The Sonic Boom
by UltimateDurzan
Summary: The story of the origin of the Mobians, how Sonic got his superspeed, and the tale of the first battle between Sonic, Knuckles, and Tales against their evil creator, Dr.Ivan O. "Robot" Nik Dr. Robotnik. Rated T for Graphic Violence, Drugs, and Launguage.
1. Prologue (Part I)

**Prologue Part I:**

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><p><em><strong>Author's Note: All Chapters have been taken down temporarily for maintenance and review. <strong>_

_**Added to the **_**_prologue, but it was so long that I split it into two parts... This prologue should be a better catch than part two, which was the second prologue. Sorry for the inconvenience..._**

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><p>Hello, avid fans! I am pretty sure that you all know who I am, and I really appreciate you taking your time to come over and meet with me. But pleasing the fans is not why I am here; I have come a long way for something far more important.<p>

I am here to tell you that the stories created and published by both Sega and Archie are completely fictional, and not based on actual events. "_What?_" You say, "_Do you really think we fans are that stupid?Of course your stories are fictional; We already know that!"_

But the truth is that you do not really know. You _think _that what you read and play is fiction, but that is not the whole story. For the most part it is, in fact fiction: however, what you have absolutely no clue is that those stories are, in fact based loosely off of real events, but have been messed with to the point that any truth held within amounts to only a couple of pieces of the whole puzzle. Whole details that never actually happened or existed were made up on the spot in order to make the story more exciting and larger than life.

Ha ha, now I got you! You see, years ago, during the time that SAGA was looking for a mascot, a man by the name of Naoto Ōshima had a dream set 100 years or so in future, where he saw a group of human like animals fighting to save _our_ world from an evil dictator. When he woke up, he wrote this dream down, and began to play with it, developing characters and a story with which to write about. Little did he know that what had inspired him, was actually a miraculous vision of what was to come. The vision is what inspired him to create the characters and world that you all know and love. Do I blame them? No, I don't.

You have all read the stories that were inspired by this vision, but now it is time for the truth to come out. Thats right… Its my turn… and I am here… what actually happened in that vision. It happened… or will happen… right in this very world, the one that you are standing on. You don't believe me? Well then come along…

My true name is 1st Lieutendant Alpha "Sonic" the Hedgehog, leader of Company Bravo, and member of _Robotnik Enterprise's _secret militia. I was created as a super-soldier, a genetically engineered human-animal hybrid called a Mobian. I am the fastest thing alive. They call me the Blue Blur. The Sonic Boom…

…And this is the _real _story…my story…


	2. Prologue (Part 2)

**Prologue Part II **

In the year 2053, sentiments against the US were mostly negative. With nearly every other country in the world voicing their hatred of the US, and the increasingly unstable economy combined with extreme civil unrest, the American government withdrew from the UN and enacted a plan of total isolationism, to be in effect for the next 100 years.

Without the US's support, the UN would've collapsed, had not Russia and China began to take advantage of their greatest foe's withdrawal from world society. Through much negotiation and subterfuge, backed by the most powerful militaries other than the US, the two nations managed to push the other UN members into agreeing that there needed to be a world government. By the year 2070, the UN had been reorganized into a World Federation. But the worst was yet to come…

In the year 2110, Nickolas Kimball was elected the president of United Nations. With his rise, things quickly went further downhill. Nickolas and the countries that supported him, began a grueling campaign to turn the UN from a federation into a full world government, with him as dictator for life.

At first, laws were passed that quietly allowed the UN to take over, and barely anyone recognized what Nickolas and his cronies were doing. One year, a law was passed that allowed the UN to tax all the world's nations, and another year a law was passed that assimilated the Red Cross into the international government ranks. People who spoke out against these laws quickly "fell ill" and died. Then, major pushes for Dictatorship were made. In 2118, the UN established an international military, to be known as the Guardian Units of the Nations, or GUN for short. This alarmed many nations, but by the time everyone realized what was happening it was too late to stop it. By the end of the year 2120, practically the whole world was under his control, if not his influence.

Some people did resist, quietly. In 2115 Professor Gerald Robachnovitch, was appointed as one of the head government researchers, and was assigned the task of researching faster-than-light travel, among other projects. To do this, he established a giant orbital space station and colony which he proudly named the ARK, which was successfully placed into orbit by late 2119.

In secret, Professor Gerald used the ARK as a staging ground for a growing resistance to UN power. He secretly began training an army to back up the resistance, and also began researching and creating weapons and other technology as well. Among his many research projects, was the infamous Project Shadow. The goal of this project was to create intelligent animal super soldiers capable of longevity and human characteristics. It was the Professor's intention to use these "Mobians" (or wise animals) to help turn the tide against the growing army of the GUN international military division.

Unfortunately, the UN found out about his support of the resistance, which had been sabotaging GUN bases, supply transit, and other UN operations since GUN was established. As a result, GUN promptly raided the ARK, killing or imprisoning everyone on board, and declaring every project on board to be of interest to the UN, and highly classified.

The Ark was declared a GUN military research station, and has since been abandoned by all but UN military personnel and their families. Weapon, faster-than-light travel, and other research projects are still being performed there to this date, although they still remain highly classified.

But, what about Professor Gerald? He was arrested and found guilty of international treason, and was sentenced to execution. However, they offered him a choice: either carry out his death sentence, or finish his military projects and put them to use in GUN. Gerald refused, chose to be executed, and as according to the law, was hanged for his "crimes against humanity". He died on March 15th, 2123, but his legacy was sure to live on.


	3. Chapter 1: The Dream

**Chapter 1: The Dream**

March 1st, AD 2123, 4:00 AM.

Location: ARK Space Station, orbiting the planet Earth, somewhere above North America.

_The sound of gunshots rang throughout the ARK. Explosions could be heard in the distance, and the dead periodically lay in pools of blood along the hallways. The entire ARK was in chaos. _

_Ivan and his sister, Maria, were running for their lives. They had to reach the escape pod before the soldiers caught up to them. Maria was looking around frantically, and Ivan practically had to drag her. She had been crying for the last couple of minutes, and every now and then he would hear her sob "don't let them take Shadow. Ivan, we can't let them have him! "_

_Ivan assumed that she was just delirious. After all, her home was trashed, her friends all dead or dying, and her grandfather nowhere to be found. _

_As they rounded a corner, they heard a moan coming from one of the doors they passed. Maria began sobbing again, frantically yearning for the door. "Stop, Ivan, Stop! That could be a survivor. We can't just leave him!" _

_Ivan continued dragging her onward, his mind single for survival, but Maria kept pulling back. Finally, Ivan gave up and turned around. "Fine."_

"_Maria… Ivan… is that you?" A voice floated out of the room. It sounded like their grandfather, Professor Gerald Robachnovitch; now Ivan was curious. He and Maria entered the room to see their grandfather lying on the ground, his blood oozing from a bullet wound in his right thigh. His hair and once impressive mustache were as white as snow, and his once proud face was haggard, haunted, and full of pain and sorrow. _

_Behind him, lay the back of the machine that had brought about this horror. Its back panel was open, and a mass of wires, computer chips, and other hardware lay shattered on the floor next to the opening. Beside the machine, lay a small mobile stasis capsule._

_Inside the pod lay a black anthropomorphic hedgehog with red stripes on the back of his spines and a white tuft of fur at the base of the neck. That must be Project Shadow, Ivan thought, the rumors were true, and my sister was a part of the experiment. Professor Gerald spoke again, bringing Ivan's attention back to what really mattered._

"_Maria, Ivan, Come… closer. I am nearing unconsciousness.", he Moaned, "We do not have … much time. We must split up the two most important parts of Project Shadow. If either part falls into the wrong hands… then the world is lost."_

"_Maria… take Shadow with you… Make sure he can escape. Split up, and don't let them catch you. They want me alive, but they will kill you. Ivan… Take this… the plans for building the Creator", Professor Gerald said as he pressed a small green flash drive into Ivan's hands, "I… destroyed all other copies, and the… machine itself. Don't let… the government find it. Guard it with your very life. Make sure that Project Shadow stays alive… Finish… what… I started." Then his grandfather fell unconscious._

_Maria began pushing the stasis capsule toward the door, then stopped, and opened it. The black hedgehog jumped out, his red eyes flashing open, as he heard the sound of voices coming from outside the hall. "Shadow!" Maria yelled, "Get out of here. If they capture you, the whole world will fall!" _

_He glanced briefly at Ivan, and noticing the flash drive that Ivan held, said, "That has the plans on it?" Ivan nodded. "Then, you are more important than I am", Continued the Dark Hedgehog, "I will not let them hurt you Ivan, or your sister. We must split up; Ivan, you and Maria need to get out of here. I will distract them while you escape, and I will try to catch up with you later." Shadow walked out of the room to confront the soldiers._

_A few minutes passed, and then the voice of a GUN soldier was heard._

"_Hey, You! Halt!" _

"_Damn it! You bastards found me faster than I thought!" the hedgehog yelled. _

_Then, the sound of gunfire echoed around the hallways, followed by what sounded like fists connecting with bone, and then terrible screams that suddenly cut short. Blood flowed in front of the doorway and Shadow walked back inside after a few heartbeats._

"_Change of plans, since more soldiers will be here soon. Ivan, I will take you to the escape pod now! Maria and I will take an escape pod on the opposite side to give you a chance to escape with the plans. I promise that I will protect Maria as best as I can, but if I die, then Project Shadow will still live on, in you! I am the first Mobian. If I fall, remember me; if I die, let everyone know the Ultimate Lifeform has fallen. " He turned toward the door, gesturing for Maria to follow him. _

_Shadow froze at the door. The sound of more footsteps could be heard outside. As quick as lightning, he dashed back, and grabbed Maria and Ivan by the arm. "Damn it! I haven't tried this before, but now is as good a time as any; CHAOS CONTROL!" _

_Things became blurry as time and space warped around the trio. When the vision cleared, Ivan was sitting by the entrance to an escape pod, and he was alone. Ivan looked around, but Shadow and Maria were nowhere to be seen. He took one last look around, then sadly turned and entered, with the computer chip still in his fist. "I vow to continue Project Shadow, and fight this oppressive world government", He said, "This world deserves to be free." And he pressed the Launch button._

February 28th, AD 2153, 10:30 PM. Eve of the 30th Anniversary of the ARK massacre.

Location: Top Secret Research Facility, _Robotnik Enterprises_, Somewhere in North America.

Dr. Ivan O. Robachnovitch, the 38-year-old CEO of _Robotnik Enterprises, _woke up with a start. He had fallen asleep at his desk again, and as he had every night since he found out about Maria's death, the nightmare mixed with memory of his escape from the ARK had returned. After his escape, he had been found by a local engineer in North America, where he was raised. He later went to college, excelled in engineering, robotics, mechanics, and genetics.

_I shouldn't have left_, Ivan thought, _I shouldn't have left her there to die. She was my sister, and I betrayed her. No… no I wasn't, I did what I was supposed to do. She died to give Shadow a chance to escape, and with luck, he managed it. With her sacrifice, the resistance still lives on, even if the rest of the world has become ignorant._

"Dodge! Get your lazy fat ass in here," Roared the doctor," Get those damn department heads in here; I don't care what they are doing, it is time to kick this rebellion into full gear!" Due to a lack of good sleep, Ivan was subject to sudden and random irritability.

Dodge was his secretary. He was a fat and lazy piece of shit with huge dinner plates for eyes and a sulky disposition. If you even just glanced at him, he would whine like a pig and waddle off to do his own dirty work. "Y…Y…Yes Doctor," Dodge whined sleepily, "right away."

Dodge gave the intercom a punch, and sent for the three department heads that were highly concerned with Project Shadow. "Will the managers of the Robotics, Genetics, and Aviation Departments please report to Dr. Ivan's office immediately?" He then picked up his book, and began to read.

When his secretary was no longer paying any attention, Dr. Ivan turned around and swung the picture on its hidden hinge, revealing a safe built into the wall. He punched in the six-digit combination, and opened the outer door of the safe. The second door revealed an eye scanner, a thumb scanner, and a voice recognition device, which promptly requested him to identify himself. As his eye and thumb were being scanned, Dr. Ivan promptly replied with his full name, "Doctor Ivan Orvenori Robachnovitch." The small scanners quickly processed the information, and then all three flashed green with recognition. "Welcome, Dr. Ivo Robotnik." The voice said. Ivan glanced around secretly. Not many people knew of his secret name.

The second door popped open, revealing a third door with two locks in it: one requiring a card swipe, and the other requiring an old fashioned key. He pulled out his scan card and a small metal key. He put the key into the lock, then swiped his card, and then turned the key.

The third door popped open, revealing a single flash drive sitting in the middle of the safe. He picked up the flash drive, put it in his pocket, and closed all three doors to the safe. He then swung the picture back into place, and sat down at his desk to wait for his three most trusted managers. _They'll probably be late, _He thought, yawned sleepily. _This is going to be a long night…_

March 1st, AD 2153, 12:01 AM.

Location: Top Secret Research Facility, _Robotnik Enterprises_, Somewhere in North America.

"Very well, now that we are all here, let's begin with the reports. Johnson, what do you have to say concerning the stealth drones?" Dr. Ivan wearily asked. He feared that the Robotics department was behind schedule.

"The stealth drones are coming along well," replied Johnson, head of the Robotics department. He paused as he pulled up schematics for the stealth drones and then continued with his report. "The Class S5 battle drones are more streamlined in appearance, and are designed more for spying and sabotage than the standard battle drone. That said, they needed to be lighter. Due to the weight, we had to significantly reduce the amount of armor and weaponry in favor of the stealth factor. We replaced most of the armor and weaponry with the following: experimental cloaking, anti-radar capabilities, and long range spy and communication equipment, an emergency self-destruct, as well as a capsule that can store and deploy small explosives. The stealth drone can also be fitted with a small cargo hold, with which it can transport small amounts of equipment, food, ammo, or weapons. As far as weaponry goes, the stealth drone is compatible with only light weaponry, and may be custom equipped with up to two of the following: a short range Taser, a dart gun with a clip of 8 paralysis darts, or a drone issued .35 SMG with two spare magazines."

"Very good Johnson", Dr. Ivan grunted, "and what else do you have to report?" It seemed like he had been mistaken about his first assumptions

"We now have 3 classes of battle drones up and functional, sir. The S5 stealth drone, the H2 heavy support drone, and the AP14 Omega battle drone. The engineer drones are receiving their finishing touches, and will soon be added to the drone arsenal. The R3 recon drones are currently being specifically remodeled to act as a better short-range scout", Johnson droned on, "as the long-range recon function has been filled by the S5 drone. As far as drone numbers are concerned, one hundred thousand drones that are fully operational, with another fifty thousand being assembled and tested right this moment. Fifty percent of the army is, as you directed, made up of standard model battle drones, with the rest being stealth drones and heavy support respectively."

"Excellent, Mr. Johnson," Ivan replied, "It seems that you are on schedule after all. See that you keep it up."

The doctor turned to the head of the Aviation Department. "Mr. Smith, how is my aerospace fleet coming along?"

Mr. Smith briefly glanced at his papers then stood up to speak. "We have finished the designs for your capital ship, the_ Gambit_. It will be like a flying fortress, able to withstand a major battle. The _s Gambit_ will be able to endure the rigors of space and can carry up to 50,000 drones and 5000 passengers, not including the people who run the ship. It will be equipped with enough firepower to level entire cities, and the most powerful armor available. Hangers are to be built into the _Gambit _to allow for fighters and transports to enter and leave at will. I am sure that when it is finished, you will be most impressed, sir." Mr. Smith replaced the schematics of the battle drones with a detailed 3D module of the_ Gambit _on the holoboard.

Dr. Ivan's eyes narrowed, as he examined the enormous module. "Mr. Smith… How will the ship be powered? There is not enough fuel, even in the entire solar system, to get this thing off the ground, much less get it into space. How do you plan to power it?"

Mr. Smith grinned impishly. "Dr. Ivan, surely you remember your grandfather's journal? Well, I took the liberty of looking through it, like you asked me to, a while back. In his journal, Professor Gerald mentioned a rare type of crystal occasionally found in certain asteroids and meteors. Crystals of this type tend to radiate an immeasurable amount of energy. Your grandfather had designed a device that can use this energy as a power source. I call this device the Chaos Reactor, on account that the energy ratings of the power source may possibly be unpredictable and chaotic. All we need to do is find a meteor that contains this crystal, and we will have a good source of energy to covert to fuel."

"Do these Chaos Crystals have any effects on life forms?" The doctor asked, "There could be some problems if my workers start throwing up and dying from radiation sickness."

"As far as I can tell, the energy output of this Chaotic Crystal has no harmful effects on humans, or any life form for that matter. I believe, however that if you concentrate enough of this energy in one place, it may actually enhance a normal person's abilities. When I gain a sample, I will study it more closely."

"I get the idea Mr. Smith," The doctor said, "I just wanted to make sure you had thought this out completely." Next, he turned to the Genetics Manager. A few moments of silence passed.

"Well, Professor Jason?" Dr. Ivan said ominously, "I'm waiting for your report concerning the next phase in Project Shadow."

"We have made little progress, sir," Professor Jason responded nervously, his eyes flicking back and forth.

"WHAT!?" Exploded the CEO, "You have been working on rebuilding Project Shadow for over a year, and you have _nothing_ to report at all? You are a disgrace!" Dr. Ivan's face was beet red, almost the same color as his huge red mustache. The doctor looked around embarrassed. Coughing a couple of times, he slowly regained his composure. "I am sorry, gentlemen, I didn't catch much sleep earlier. Anyway, why wasn't any progress made in Project Shadow?"

Professor Jason sighed in relief. "I suppose it is because you haven't given us the schematics for the Creator yet, sir. I didn't want to bug you about it, and I thought you already knew. I filled out the report 11 months ago."

Dr. Ivan winced. "Sometimes, I don't even get those monthly reports Jason. My secretary has long thought it amusing to hide some of the papers from me. Every time I threaten to fire him, that little smartass looks at me with a forgetful expression on his face, and scrambles around, pretending to look for it, each time saying, 'I am sorry boss, It must be here somewhere. Are you sure that it was even sent?' I then get a small feeling of compassion for the idiot, and I find myself unable to fire him, even though I know very well that he is driving me crazy. "

"Very well, I will give you a copy of the schematics," the doctor continued, as he reached into his pocket, "Anyway, I had a hunch that I forgot to give you a copy. I will forward it to your department network." He pulled out the flash drive, and plugged it into the interface.

"Um… Sir?" Mr. Johnson said hesitantly, "Sir… You gave me the schematics for the individual parts for the Creator over a year ago. I already have built them, and they just need to be assembled. "

Dr. Ivan paused briefly, then opened the flash drive, and copied one of the documents into an email, which he directed to the Mr. Johnson. "Excellent, Mr. Johnson, "he said, "I assume that you need the instructions on how the Creator is to be assembled? Good. I just sent it to you. Now get it built, and ship it over to the Genetic Department. How long do you think it will take?"

"A week at the least boss, "Mr. Johnson replied hesitantly, "Three weeks tops. "

"Now, since that was taken care of," the doctor announced, "I think this meeting is adjourned, so good day, gentlemen. I need to ponder what everyone here has told me, and I am in desperate need of some sleep. Remember, there will be a general meeting of the executive council in two days, and everyone is to attend." The three department managers quickly shuffled out.

_Now time to get some sleep,_ He thought. He left his office, and walked down the many hallways of the underground research center, and finally came to his personal quarters. He changed, and then hopped into bed, knowing that tomorrow was going to be a very long day. He opened the small fridge that was by his bed, pulled out a bottle of strong wine, drank a couple swigs, and then put it back in his fridge.

He lay down on his bed, and for a time gazed at the celling.

"Maria… Shadow…" the doctor said as he slowly drifted off to sleep, "What happened to you on that fateful day?"

For the first time in a week, the doctor was able to fall into a deep, sound sleep. If he had been awake thirty minutes later, he would've heard the roar and crash of something huge falling to the ground, not so far away, but he didn't even notice.


	4. Chapter 2: The Headache

**Chapter 2: The Meteor**

March 1st, AD 2153, 8:13 AM.

Location: Top Secret Research Facility, _Robotnik Enterprises_, Somewhere in North America.

Dr. Ivan awoke with a start to the sound of the buzzing intercom jarring his skull. He felt awful; his head felt like it was a balloon filled with too much air. Blinking owlishly, the Doctor fumbled for the light switch near his bedside. Some ill-conceived bastard must've thought it was funny to wake him up with a priority alert call.

He punched the intercom button. _I will make sure that the son of a bitch who woke me up will be hanging from the top of a flag pole by his shoelaces. Damn, my head hurts. Damn that bastard to hell for waking me up. How am I supposed to run a revolution when I can't even receive a full night's sleep?_

"What are you doing waking me up now?!" He thundered into intercom, "Don't you know that I do not wish to be disturbed at this hour?!" The headache definitely didn't help with his short temper. His face was beet red once again, and his flamboyant red mustache flared out from his intimidating face.

"Um… Sir?" The intercom clerk nervously spoke, "Mr. Smith sent you a high priority message to you over an hour ago. I didn't want to disturb you earlier, but he messaged me saying that it was urgent, so I rang the intercom now. Check your message box, sir."

With a bit of effort, the doctor slowly regained his composure, although his head was still throbbing. "Thank you, for alerting me to the fact. I will read it at once, since I have nothing better to do now."

Walking over to the nearest wall, he spoke again, this time addressing his stateroom computer. "Computer Activate. Name: Dr. Ivan O. Robachnovitch. Alias: Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Password: Delta Shade 6. Security Level: 10."

There was a brief burst of light as the computer acknowledged the commands, and then hundreds of tiny black specks swarmed out of a small tube implanted into the ceiling. They shimmered and shifted, until the Nano-bots had arranged themselves into the shape of touch screen. The black screen moved along the side of the wall until it was right in front of Dr. Ivan. Then the screen flashed white, and the OS was Booted. Five seconds later, the touch screen was active, and a clear robotic voice said in reply, "Activation successful. No problems detected. Welcome, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, access is granted to you. Accessing email… please wait…access successful. You have 1 new message, from Mr. Smith, Chairman of the Aviation and Aerospace Department." He opened the letter and began to read.

_To all whom this may concern,_

_At exactly 0200 hours today, Central Daylight time, a large meteorite crashed near this installation. Many people did not hear the crash as this building is effective at blocking out most sound, but the tremors were felt by all those awake, including me. I immediately assembled a small platoon of scouts, and after careful consideration, I decided to accompany them to the crash site. I have a personal interest in these kinds of things. _

_What we found was a half mile wide crater of smoldering debris not even 100 miles away from this research facility. Although this base is underground, I am surprised that the crash didn't damage the facility in any significant way. This meteorite proved to be even more astounding when my team found that any meteor that can create a crater this small would've naturally burned up in the atmosphere, and that there was still some remains of the original meteor towards the center of the crater. _

_When we examined the material at the center of the blast radius, it appeared to be made of a diamond like substance, but glowed unnaturally. Every few minutes, the color of the crystal changed, and we all inexplicably felt the energy radiating from it. My weariness from lack of sleep immediately fell away, and it seemed, that I could do almost anything. It felt like that I was filled to the brim with energy. I wonder if this crystal could be used in the Chaos Reactor. Is this a sample of the Chaotic Crystalline substance that Professor Gerald wrote about in his journal? _

_I returned from the scouting trip at 0330 hours, and then ordered an immediate retrieval team to the site. I sent a request to the research department to perform some tests on the crystal samples so I can alter and adjust the designs for the Chaos Reactor as needed. Knowing that you wished to be informed immediately on any information concerning the Chaos Reactor, I sent this message to you as a high priority message. To the department heads, I sent it as a standard priority message. With your permission of course, I request a meeting of the General Council to be held as soon as possible._

_Your trusted Lieutenant,_

_Jacob A. Smith_

Doctor Ivan smiled. This was the kind of thing that could speed up his plans for Revolution drastically. It would take at least a year for the Chaos Reactor to be built, tested, and refined, but this was a start.

His headache didn't trouble him anymore, for his mind was on other matters now. He turned on the intercom and spoke. "Send a high priority alert to all members of the General Council. Tell them that I am calling an emergency meeting, and to assemble in the council room in thirty minutes. Like I've said many times before, before, it is 'time to kick it into overdrive!'"


	5. Chapter 3: Alpha the Hedgehog

**Chapter 3: Alpha the Hedgehog**

July 3rd, AD 2169, 8:00 AM.

Location: Project Shadow Research Facility Bravo, _Robotnik Enterprises_, Somewhere in North America.

They called him Alpha, but that just wasn't right. It didn't sound right, it didn't feel right. He felt the need for speed, but the scientists who created him just wouldn't listen. Alpha longed to break the Sound Barrier, a feat, which was seemingly impossible; at least it was if you were not trying to pilot a vehicle.

But the impossible was his specialty, because he was a Mobian. In theory, he shouldn't even exist, but due to the amazing designs of his creators, he was here. Standing almost four feet tall, his kind was designed to be a marvel to the world: a genetic cross between man and various animals, blended together into a form that looked natural, and was not contributed with the ugliness that similar creatures were characterized with in various novels.

Alpha was no exception. He was a blue-furred hedgehog with brilliant green eyes. His chest and his arms were tan in color, a sort of birthmark unique to him. He wore a pair of white leather gloves, initially to protect his hands whenever he was in combat training. Now, he wore them all the time.

In the distance, he heard two of the sergeants arguing heatedly. Alpha glanced over, shrugged, and then continued to read. _Whatever the problem is, _he thought,_ it must be pretty bad to get them yelling at each other like that._

Alpha was lying on a tanning ledge close to the training ground, lazily drinking lemonade and reading the latest news on his Reading Tablet, when his thoughts was rudely interrupted by someone who thundered his name. Startled, he jumped to his feet in surprise. As he scrambled to his feet, he knocked his Reading Tablet and his lemonade onto the ground. With a hiss and a few sparks, the Tablet short circuited. _Damn, not again. That was my fifth Tablet this month. Oh well, it really isn't worth that much… _

"Alpha, Get your lazy ass over here now!" Sergeant Miller bellowed, as the great man lumbered over to him. "You should be practicing your sparring skills, not lying around like a sack of useless grain! We do not need to keep the Professor waiting, or the new batch of recruits, and I do not want to get my ass handed to me on a platter, just because you are the laziest Mobian in this entire facility!"

_Sheesh, what has gotten you all riled up?_ Alpha thought, quickly springing to attention.

Of course, Alpha was actually one of the best; which is the reason why most people assume that the Sergeant singles him out constantly. What appears as one thing on the surface, however, isn't always what is really going on. Technically, Alpha was commissioned. But due to _Robotnik Enterprises_ Militia Division regulations, and the fact that he was a Mobian, he was under the personal command of the top NCO in the building, Chief Master Sergeant Miller, until he was considered trained enough to leave the MCTF, or until he chose to leave.

He graduated Basic Training with top marks, and would've been sent into the reserve if he hadn't refused to go. Unlike most Mobians, Alpha decided to stay at the MCTF to receive his Commission, as well as to receive the Advanced Combat and Tactics Training Course required for a Mobian to do so. He was nearing the end of the ACTT course, after which, he would be Immediately promoted to 1st Lieutenant, and would be considered of equal rank to any Human of the same rank, assuming that he won his fight against, Knuckles, who was competing against him for that honor.

"Yeah, Yeah, Sargent, I am coming," Alpha replied in a bantering tone, "Don't get flustered. It's not the end of the world."

"It may not be the end of the world for me," The Sergeant growled back, "but it will definitely be the end of _yours_ if you embarrass me and your colleagues in front of the professor and the new recruits."

Despite their apparent animosity, Alpha and Sergeant Miller were the best of friends. The Sergeant has long been one of Alpha's mentors, but due to their positions within _Robotnik Enterprise_'s Militia, they were forced to keep their friendship hidden.

"New recruits?" Alpha gasped in shock, "B…but they were not supposed to arrive until next week, sir. "

"I am well aware of that, Alpha," his friend growled between clenched teeth, "but they arrived sooner than expected, and we cannot let them just sit around idly, now can we?"

"But today is supposed to be-"

"I am well aware of what today is supposed to be, cadet," the sergeant cut him off coldly, "And I will have to speak with Professor Jason about it. Now, come with me."

Sergeant Miller led him to a training ground where a small group of Mobians stood. Alpha took a long look at the new recruits from a distance. He had never seen them before, and they all looked like they had just come out of the Bunks, the places where Mobians were created and raised until they were considered fit to be enrolled in the Militia. They all looked rather young, which was not a surprise, considering they were fresh recruits.

"What do you want me to do, sir?" Alpha whispered so that the recruits could not hear him.

"Alpha," Sergeant Miller rolled his eyes in exasperation. "If you were paying attention to the announcements this morning," he replied in a low voice, "you would know that there was supposed to be a demonstration of what exactly Mobian soldiers can become. I selected you for the demonstration because I thought it might do YOU some good. Demonstrate your combat techniques to the new recruits, and don't you dare hold back. The professor will be watching.

The sergeant paused to think a moment, and then he spoke again, "Alpha, I cannot stay to guide them, so you will act as the drill sergeant in my place till I return. You will demonstrate your abilities when I return. Hopefully you won't make a total mess of things while I am gone."

"I won't sergeant," Alpha replied, no longer startled. It wasn't against the sergeant to occasionally try to humiliate him in public.

"I think I frighten them too much, anyway," The Sergeant grinned.

Then, more seriously, he raised his voice. "I am transferring command of these recruits over to you. When I return, you will proceed with the demonstration. Right now, I want you to show them some of the basics, and address any questions they may have. Now get over there and do what you're supposed to do!"

Alpha sprang to attention, saluted the Sergeant, and then marched over to the new recruits. "Welcome to Mobian Combat Training Facility Bravo-17", Alpha bellowed in his best imitation of Sergeant Miller's voice, "Here, our goal is to turn you soft little whelps into combat worthy soldiers, able to defend themselves from anything the Enemy can throw at us! If you expect soft treatment, then you might as well pack your bags now and return to the miserable Bunk you came from, where you will care for all the Mobians too young to enter Boot camp! But, if you're expecting to be pushed near to death, then do not worry. As long as you put every single ounce of sweat into learning basic combat, you should be fine. Any questions?"

A yellow fox, with two tails, near the front of the group, raised his hand. "Umm… sir… where is the restroom?"

Alpha sighed. _This was going to be a long day_, he thought.

Sergeant James Miller smiled as he walked into Professor Jason's private observation room.

"You wished to see, me professor?" the Sergeant asked.

"Yes. How is Alpha?" Professor Jason replied.

"He is currently preparing the latest group of Mobian recruits for basic training."

"They arrived? I thought that they wouldn't be here for another week."

"So did I, professor. All of the other 1st generation Mobians are assembling in the Hall of Ceremonies, Should we continue anyway? "

The Professor thought for a moment. "No, Sergeant. Let's delay the ceremony for a week, and then have the Sparring match between Alpha and Knuckles privately on the morning of the ceremony. The early arrival of the new recruits means that we will have to focus on their first week of training more than the full-commission ceremony, besides, it gives me more time to think."

"That makes sense sir." The sergeant replied.

The professor remained silent for a few minutes then cleared his throat.

"What is Alpha's specialty?"

"Sir?" Sergeant Miller asked questioningly, "what does that have to do with the ceremony or the new recruits?"

"Everything, Sergeant, Everything. Whatever he specialized in during his training will determine his role in the Militia as a Mobian commissioned officer."

"Very well, professor. Alpha currently specializes in hit-and-run tactics, and hand to hand combat. His quick reflexes make him a natural master in those combat areas. He also possesses leadership qualities, although most of the time he prefers to be a lone wolf."

"What does he want to do Sergeant?"

"Professor, he likes to run..."

"…to build up his endurance? I meant what he does in his spare time, sergeant."

"He just likes running, sir. He dashes around the track as fast as he can for hours on end. His endurance is phenomenal, but eventually he wears himself out. When he is not running, he is reading the news or practicing his combat skills. I have very rarely seen him actually relaxing. I think running may actually be only real thing he enjoys. He has long desired to break the sound barrier, but of course he probably never will get the chance."

"Hmm… Interesting… I just might be able to help him fulfill that dream of his, provided he can win in the fight against Knuckles, of course. "

"Sir… that's impossible."

"You don't have confidence in his fighting abilities?" the Professor responded, looking a little bit startled.

"Of course I am confident in his abilities, professor," the sergeant retorted in an offended tone," He can win against Knuckles, I am sure of that. However, Alpha is not a very good driver, and he hasn't had any pilot training, the chances of him breaking the sound barrier on foot are…"

"Enough sergeant! If Alpha likes to run, specializes in hit-and-run attacks, and wishes to break the sound barrier, then that's exactly what I intend to give him the opportunity to do, IF AND ONLY IF he can beat Knuckles," The professor cut the sergeant off. He then continued on in a more reasonable tone, "It could give us innumerable advantages over the enemy, having someone so fast that he can cause a sonic boom. Coincidentally, some of my co-workers have been trying to get a man to break the sound barrier without a vehicle for a while. My scientists have designed a pair of shoes that, with the proper training and engineering, can enable the wearer to adjust the friction level on the ground immediately below his feet without even thinking about it. A pair of these shoes will be given to Alpha as soon as he receives his Full Commission, if he wins the fight."

"Alpha would like that sir, and um… speaking of gifts… there is one other thing…"

"What, sergeant?"

"Alpha would probably like a name change."

"I am not surprised. It is the least we can do to someone who has chosen to stay here so long, and he always cringed when someone called his name. What does he want it to be?"

"I don't think he has any idea. All I ask is that as part of the ceremony, you give him the option to pick the name he will be known by outside of this facility."

"Very well Sergeant, I will see to that," The professor said, "You may leave now."

Sergeant Miller sprung to attention, saluted, and then walked out.James silently thanked his superior for his thoughtful manner.

_Thank you professor, _the Sergeant thought,_ Alpha has been my friend for a long time, and it is about time he gets a chance to do something that he likes. You only need to wait a week longer, and then you will be free._


	6. Chapter 4: Role Models

**Chapter 4: Role Models**

June 31st, AD 2169, 8:30 PM.

Location: Mobian Bunk. Codename: Foxtrot-22. Located at the Aviation and Aerospace Department HQ. _Robotnik Enterprises_, Somewhere in North America.

"_Thanks for helping me build the test drone today, Miles." Mr. Smith said. "You really are quite a good mechanic."_

"_Only because you were kind enough to teach me, sir." Miles "Tails" Prower replied, as he added the finishing touches to one of the new prototype Stealth Drones._

"_It is getting late Tails; you'd better get to bed. Your enlistment test is tomorrow." He surveyed his personal Engineering Room, which was littered with various tools, gears, and pieces of metal._

_Miles gave one last look at the drone, and then climbed down the ladder that he was standing on to the floor. He sadly took one last look at the room where he had spent most of his free time for the past three years, and then walked slowly toward the door._

_Tails stopped at the door and turned around. "Mr. Smith, why did you build the test drone yourself, when you have people who could easily do it for you?"_

"_Miles," Mr. Smith sighed, "I am a mechanic at heart. If I don't repair or build something at least every once in a while, then I would fall out of practice. Occasionally, I do a project myself, to keep my engineering and mechanical skills in top shape; besides, I enjoy designing and building things."_

_Tails thought about it for a moment, and then smiled. "I guess I never thought of it that way before. To me it has always just been something useful to know. I do enjoy it, though."_

_Mr. Smith glanced at Tails thoughtfully. "When you love tinkering, building, and fixing things as much as I do, it becomes more than just something useful to know; it becomes your passion. Never take a job that you wouldn't enjoy, otherwise you'll be smashing your head against the wall in frustration constantly."_

"_Thank you, Sir," Tails replied simply, walking back toward the door, "Thank you for being such a good mentor."_

_Mr. Smith smiled sadly as Miles left the room. Tails would miss this kind-hearted mechanic, but he had the rest of his life to live, and he just couldn't look back._

July 8th, AD 2169, 5:00 AM.

Location: Project Shadow Research Facility Bravo, _Robotnik Enterprises_, Somewhere in North America.

**EEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNKKKKK!**

The sound of an air horn jolted Tails from his dream. _Uggh_, he thought as he looked at his watch. _Wha- it's only 5:00 a.m.!_ Confused, He glanced around the barracks and saw the others scrambling into their PT uniforms and lining up at the end of their beds. Despite the fact that he had been here for a little under a week, he still had some trouble getting used to the seemingly unpredictable schedule the Drill Sergeants had set up for them.

Tails groggily rubbed his eyes, and then turned to get out of the bed. Before he could even pull off the covers, however, the chief Drill Sergeant was beside his bed in a flash

"WHY ARE YOU STILL IN YOUR BED RECRUIT?" Thundered Senior Master Sergeant Nathan Vance, "DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE SOME KIND OF SPECIAL PRIVILEGE? GET OUT OF THAT DAMNED BED AND GET IN YOUR PT'S BEFORE I SHIP YOU BACK TO YOUR SHITHOLE OF A BUNK!"

"But it's not even light out ye-"

The Sergeant, now beet-red in the face, cut him off. "I DON'T GIVE A SHIT! YOU WILL DO AS I SAY, GET UP WHEN I SAY, AND EAT WHEN I SAY, DURING YOUR ENTIRE STAY AT THIS TRAINING COURSE! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD MAGGOT?"

"Y-yes sir," Tails responded feebly.

"SOUND OFF WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!"

"YES SIR!"

"GOOD!" The Sergeant boomed.

Vance turned to face the other recruits as Tails began scrambling to get ready.

"THAT GOES FOR ALL OF YOU MAGGOTS! YOU ARE AT BASIC TRAINING NOW! GET MOVING! GET TO THE LAWN, NOW!" He honked the air horn as the recruits began to run out the door. Well, all of them except Tails, who was struggling to get his Boots on in time.

"Damn laces!" he cursed under his breath. Sergeant Vance walked back over to the small vulpine to offer some 'encouragement'.

"STILL TAKING YOUR TIME, I SEE! GET MOVING! WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY! COME ON! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" he bellowed in Tails' ear.

The yellow fox got the Boot laces tied and then ran out the door. He formed up in a line at attention with the rest of his team next to a pink hedgehog and a light yellow and white rabbit, both female.

Sergeant Vance walked in front of the line. "Today for our physical training exercises we will be doing 25 push-ups, 30 crunches, and a 5-mile run across the base. Is that understood?"

"YES SIR!" was the booming reply.

"Good! We will begin." Everyone dropped down in push-up position and they began the exercises.

Once they were finished, MSgt. Vance had them form up into columns for the run. Tails soon found himself at the back of the group and when they began to run he knew he would have to run faster because he had shorter legs than the rest of the team. Twice, he nearly tripped over his tails, slowing his already meager pace down. He began to lose energy halfway through the second mile, and at the start of the third was lagging behind the group by 2 feet. Tails was panting heavily when MSgt. Vance decided that it was time to offer the small yellow vulpine even more "encouragement".

"COME ON RECRUIT! IF YOU DON'T CATCH UP TO THE PACK, THIS ENTIRE TEAM WILL BE CLEANING THE TOILETS WITH THEIR TOOTHBRUSHES!"

Moans and jeers came from the rest of the team as they pushed Tails to the limit. He was now 5 feet behind the pack and was quickly becoming very frustrated with himself for not being capable of running fast enough.

_I must keep going,_ he thought savagely._ I cannot give up now!_

Alpha watched his opponent closely, not letting his eyes stay from the red echidna. The formal fight had started a minute ago, but neither one had thrown a punch yet.

Like tradition dictated, and as part of the graduation ceremony for commissioned cadets, the top two Mobian recruits in a commissioned class would compete in a one on one sparring match. The prize: a direct promotion to the rank of 1st Lieutenant upon graduation, and cash prize of $500.

Normally, a commissioned recruit was, upon graduation from the military academy, was given the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, but _Robotnik Enterprises _shortly initiated the tradition to encourage the cadets to pick out the best cadets.

Alpha and Knuckles were the top two in their class, and as such, they were eligible for the special prize and as such, tradition and regulation required them to fight in one-on-one combat. The fight was traditionally supposed to take place on the day of graduation, before the evening ceremony, but with the unexpected arrival of a new batch of enlisted recruits, and some temporary problems with the base's cloaking device, the graduation ceremony had been pushed back a week, as to account for the problems.

_This one is different,_ Alpha thought to himself as they circled,_ He possesses an air of confidence that few Mobians can match._

"Get on with it!" shouted Sergeant Miller.

Alpha's eyes flickered to the sergeant, and that is when Knuckles made his first strike.

With lightning speed the echidna darted forward and punched at Alpha's face with his spikey fist. Alpha shifted his weight and pulled his head back, narrowly avoiding the blow, then gave a quick counterblow to Knuckles' chest. The echidna stumbled back and grunted when the blow landed, but otherwise seemed unfazed by the blow. His purple eyes narrowed in concentration as they locked gases again.

Now it was his turn to make a move. He feinted to left, and then darted to the right. He dashed around behind Knuckles, and struck at the key pressure points located on the back. He had landed no more than a couple blows when the echidna whirled around and began wallowing on Alpha. Blow after blow fell upon Alpha, each stinging him with the prick of pain. It was all he could do to fend off just some of Knuckles' attacks. _I… cannot… let him… beat me. I came too far to lose the 1__st__ Lieutenant rank to this damned echidna!_

Then he breached his second wind. With a little effort, Alpha managed to block a particularly hard punch, aimed for his head faster than he had managed previously. In the brief opening Alpha managed to land a counterpunch to the echidna's chin, and then a follow-up kick aimed at the chest. Alpha had managed to get on the offensive again.

From then on, it was an even fight. Faster and faster they fought. The blue hedgehog and the echidna began to flicker kicks and punches that the audience could barely see. Twice, one of them was nearly pushed out of bounds, but the other always managed to regain his footing.

It was a pebble that did it. During a particularly hard punch that Knuckles' threw, Alpha took a step back and slipped on the little rock that so often causes people pain and grief. Down to the ground the hedgehog fell, landing hard on his back.

"Ten...Nine…Eight…!" The referee boomed.

Alpha struggled to get up, but his arms and legs were so bruised and battered that he was trembling. _Come on! Come on, Stand up!_

"Seven…Six…Five…Four…!"

_Damn, not now! Get Up! _He thought furiously at his shaking limbs. Knuckles stood over him, gloating with a smirk on his face.

"Three…Two...One…!"

Something in Alpha's mind seemed to snap, and without knowing what was happening, he felt a surge of alien energy rush through his body.

Without thinking, he raised his arm in a fist of defiance and shouted, "_CHAOS CONTROL!_"

The world blurred and spun around him. It seemed as if time itself had slowed down. With newfound strength rushing into him, Alpha stood up. He glanced around in confusion. Everyone was moving in slow motion.

And then he knew how he could win. He ran behind Knuckles and then curled into a tight spiny ball facing the echidna. Using his newfound energy, he held himself in place even while he rolled himself forward, thus gaining speed. When his speed was at maximum, he released his energy barrier, sending him spinning at the echidna. _Sonic… SPIN DASH! _

By the time that the spin dash was fully charged, the strange effect on time had worn off.

Alpha hit the echidna squarely in the back, knocking him over. Knuckles hit the ground with a thud. Alpha got up, and dusted himself off. He noticed the remnant of faint light blue aura was fading from around his skin. _Curious,_ He thought.

There was a startled pause, and then the referee gave the count down. Knuckles twitched with pain, but did not get up.

"Alpha the Hedgehog wins!" bellowed the referee, and the audience burst into cheers.

"Dammit!" Knuckles groaned, rolling over, "I thought I had him!"

"You had me worried there for a moment," Sergeant Miller said as he hurried over, "I don't know how you managed to do it, especially because you were already down, but you won!"

He handed Alpha what looked like a pair of red and white heavy sneakers. "These are a promotion gift from Professor Jason. He says that you are permitted to wear them with your uniform, as they were designed specifically for you. He also told me that, you are granted permission to change your name."

Startled, Alpha glanced at the shoes he knew would let him run faster than even an airplane. He transferred his gaze to the sergeant.

"Are you sure? These shoes, AND a name change?" He asked.

"Yes I am," replied the sergeant.

"Very well, then," Alpha replied taking the sneakers. After taking off his sparring Boots and replacing them with his new sneakers, he turned to the small crowd. "Today, I am no longer Alpha the Hedgehog. Today, I have become Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The sergeant gave him a medal with a silver star on it, signifying that he had earned the promotion. The actual bar of rank was reserved for the ceremony.

Sonic put the medal on, and then saluted the Chief Master Sergeant.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Sergeant Miller boomed, raising the hedgehog's arm above his head, "I give you the valedictorian of Class C-2169D, the one and only, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

It was the beginning of the fourth mile, and Tails was not faring any better. The gap between him and the rest of the recruits had increased steadily, until he was now twenty feet behind them. With his tails drooping from exhaustion, an ache in his side, and some serious breathing problems, he found it harder and harder to even think of running faster.

MSgt. Vance had stopped trying to 'encourage' him every second, probably out of disgust, but every now and then would jog back to yell at him again.

"COME ON YOU WHELP OF A RECRUIT!" The Drill Sergeant would bellow relentlessly, "FASTER! GET MOVING OR I WILL HANG YOU FROM THE CEILING BY YOUR SCRAWNY ANKLES WHEN WE GET BACK! YOU CALL THAT FAST?! GET MOVING! COME ON, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! KICK YOUR LAZY ASS INTO FULL GEAR, YOU MAGGOT!"

After a few minutes, he would run back up to the front of the column in disgust, and would bellow something that caused the rest of the company to moan and jeer at him.

_Yup, this is the life_, Tails thought sarcastically, _Getting verbally abused by a sadistic drill sergeant._

He rounded the bend and the sparring grounds came into view. A group of people were crowded around the blue hedgehog that had given his division their first combat demonstration a few days ago. The hedgehog walked over to a red echidna that was lying on the ground, and helped him up.

Tails finally let his exhaustion get the better of him, and stopped running. He stood there for a few moments watching the rest of the recruits vanish behind the bend in the track.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the blue hedgehog talk with some of the humans for a few minutes, and then one of the humans drew the hedgehog aside, and then seemed to point Tails out to him.

The hedgehog glanced at Tails, talked with the human for about a minute, and then started walking toward him.

_Oh, shit. What does he want?_ Tails thought in exasperation.

Sonic walked over to Knuckles, and held out his hand. "Hey buddy, how you doing?"

"I swear I will kill you if you call me 'buddy' again." Knuckles grunted, but he let the Hedgehog help him up anyway. "Damn it. What the hell did you do to me?"

"I hit you in the back with a fully powered spin dash," Sonic shrugged, "You're made of tougher stuff than I thought. A spin dash would break any normal person's bones at the least, but all you seem to have come off with is a huge muscle bruise across your back."

"Is that so," Knuckles muttered. He winced in pain as he limped toward the nearest medic. "I might have to try it some time. Damn! You really ran me through the mill."

He grabbed a bottle of water, and drank unconcernedly while the medic examined him. He winced when the medic injected him with painkiller, but otherwise ignored the man.

He let the man double check to see if anything was broken, and when the physician was satisfied, he got up.

"Good fight, Sonic." He nodded toward the hedgehog in grudging respect, and then the echidna limped away, cursing loudly at every other step he took.

"Thanks," Sonic replied, watching the echidna walk away.

"Hey, Alpha…Errrrrr I mean… Sonic," The medic said loudly, "We should probably check to see if you've sustained any permanent damage."

This brought the memory of the pain back into Sonic's memory. Hundreds of bruises and cuts from the fight all screamed at him, and it felt like he had been smashed into a wall.

The physician examined him for a few minutes, performing tests and scanning his body with an M-Tab Scanner. Finally he gave Sonic a painkiller injection, examined him one last time, and then sent him on his way.

Sonic, who was too exhausted to run, started walking back towards the barracks where he had been stationed.

As he began to walk, Sergeant Miller grabbed his arm and pointed toward one of the trails. There, in the distance, the recruits that Sonic had briefly commanded were running along the 5-mile trail around the base, led by what looked to be an increasingly short-tempered Master Sergeant Vance. Following farther and farther behind was the yellow fox with twin tails.

"That doesn't look good Sonic," CMSgt. Miller stated, "There is no way that that kid will be able to catch up with the group, and if he doesn't at least manage to get closer to the main group, then he can kiss his enlistment goodbye."

"Can't you do something?" Sonic replied, eyeing the fox with sorrow. He knew what would happen to Tails if he did not improve soon, and judging by the look on MSgt. Vance's face, the 'encouragement' would not be very pretty.

"No, I cannot," the NCO replied, "Professor Jason himself has ordered me not to interfere in the other sergeants training methods; it would disrupt the chain of command for me to do so directly. Besides, do you think I would risk my reputation as a drill sergeant?"

Sonic sighed in exasperation.

"However," the sergeant continued, "as a fellow recruit, and as a commissioned officer, _you_ have the right and capability to 'help and encourage' him, as technically, you received your promotion as soon as you won the fight."

Sonic's face brightened at the thought. _I remember basic training. It seems hilarious now, but was awful back then. He deserves some encouragement._

"Just remember," Sergeant Miller cautioned him, as Sonic started to walk towards the struggling fox, "you cannot directly interfere, without breaking the chain of command."

"Thank you, Sergeant," Sonic replied, and then he walked briskly toward the fox, all thoughts of weariness fading from his head.

The twin-tailed fox seemed to give up at catching up with the rest of the group and stopped in his tracks, and stood there gasping in exhaustion, and gazing at where the main group of recruits had been a minute ago.

"Come on recruit, is that the best you can do?" was the first thing the blue hedgehog said when he caught up to Tails. He didn't boom the question like MSgt. Vance did, but rather it had a penetrating quality to it. "Don't just stand there, at least walk."

"Under the circumstances, sir," Tails gasped, he started to walk forward slowly "I…have… shorter legs… than… the rest of the group, and I have… a very short… endurance."

"And you managed to run four miles without stopping? You underestimate yourself, kid. Oh and by the way, you don't have to be so formal," said the blue hedgehog, who was easily keeping pace with Tails. "My name is Sonic, and I would prefer that you use it in private. By the way, I am terrible at remembering people's names; could you perhaps remind me of yours."

"My name is Miles… Prower," Tails responded, he was starting to forget his weariness, even though he was still having trouble running. "But everyone… calls me Tails."

"Ah… I see," Sonic replied, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

They chatted for a few minutes, all the while still jogging along the track. Tails was now halfway through the 4th mile, and for some reason, his weariness seemed to be fading. He was able to move faster now, and he was starting to catch up with his division again.

"MAKE UP YOUR MIND, YOU MAGGOT!" thundered Msgt. Vance from the front of the column, when he could make out Tails and Sonic from his location. "QUIT CHATTING WITH THE DAMN HEDGEHOG, AND EITHER GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP HERE NOW, OR JUST GIVE UP LIKE THE LAZY BASTARD YOU ARE!"

That did it. The anger that had been simmering deep inside of him since he woke up that morning finally exploded. Tails had put up with Sergeant Vance's yelling and degrading insults for his entire time at Facility Bravo-17. Every day, he had been singled out and verbally beaten to a pulp more than the rest of the recruits in the division, even when he wouldn't have stood out to any other sergeant. It was as if the sergeant was deliberately singling him out, and that thought was more humiliating than anything else that had happened so far.

Something seemed to snap within him, and a surge of newfound strength began to rush through him. His eyes flashed with defiance, and he began to run furiously. His tails started to spin, and he found himself hovering about an inch off the ground as he neared the rest of the recruits.

The fox quickly closed the gap with the rest of the group, with Sonic right beside him, matching him stride for stride, but he didn't even stop or slow down.

"SO I SEE YOU HAVE THE GUTS TO RUN AFTER ALL, MAGGOT!" MSgt. Vance thundered, when Miles was just a few feet behind the rest of the group. Then his eyes widened when he saw that the fox's feet were not touching the ground, and that his tails, formerly a hindrance to his running capability, were spinning so fast that they were a blur. The Sergeant stopped running for a moment in shock.

"What the hell?" the Sergeant muttered, as Tails casually jumped over the heads of the recruits.

Tails curled himself into a ball for a brief moment, then his tails began to spin again, and suddenly he found himself flying. He looked down. Everyone appeared to be ten feet below him, all except Sonic had stopped in their tracks, and their mouths were hanging open in disbelief. Tails hit the ground again, and sped off down the trail, leaving the rest of the column in the dust. Moments later, Sonic flew passed the still baffled group at a dizzying speed, closing the distance rapidly between himself and the yellow fox.

Master Sergeant Vance was the first person to recover from the shock of what had just transpired.

"Well, you maggots, "He said, almost calmly, "Are we just going to stand here and let them show you just how useless you all are?

"NO, SIR!" Boomed the recruits.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE, THEN! CATCH UP TO THEM; MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! ANYONE WHO FAILS TO CATCH UP TO THAT BLASTED FOX WILL SCRUB THE ENTIRE BARRACKS WITH NOTHING BUT A RAG, AND THEIR BARE HANDS!"

As the group slowly sped up, the Sergeant thought he heard a few murmurings of astonishment about what had just transpired. He let them talk for about a minute, and then promptly decided to cut them off when the pink haired hedgehog decided to speak a little louder than the rest.

"Is it just me, or was that blue hedgehog kind of cute?" She asked the rabbit next to her, so loud that he just had to shut her up.

_Man, she is one loudmouthed girl,_ he thought. _After today, I think I might need to take a week's leave and let Sergeant Jones take over this batch of recruits._

"NO TALKING, MAGGOTS," the sergeant boomed, "TRIPLE TIME, RECRUITS! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!"

The column quickly fell silent and picked up the pace, as no one wanted to scrub the barracks. Despite the fact that this was a very unusual day, the Sergeant was starting to feel happy. This was something that he had not felt in a long time.

_Alpha, _MSgt. Vance thought as he ran at the head of the column, _I think you make a much better mentor for that fox than I ever could. It seems like he needed something a little different than a barrage of insults and threats to get him to work his ass off. Whatever you did, it sure seemed to help; too much, perhaps._


	7. Chapter 5: The Card Game

**Chapter 5: The Card Game **

July 8th, AD 2169, 10:00 AM.

Location: Fortress Omega: Nicolas Fidel's personal hideout, G.U.N. General Headquarters, Somewhere in southern Greenland.

Nicholas Fidel, the undisputed dictator of the world, barely smiled as he looked at his cards. In his hands, he held a straight flush, one of the best hands in the entire game of poker. It was an old fashioned game of chance that had been popular for over three hundred years, but even now, it was still fun to play.

"I raise the pot by $10,000." Fidel said, placing ten 1,000 credit chips in the center of the table.

No one backed down, and the other five players added their $10,000 to the pile, raising the prize in the center to $100,000. They were playing in American currency, because it was the most valuable, and the money was accepted world-over.

The man to Nicholas's right, a big man with a scraggly red beard, eyed everyone at the table briefly, then took a card from the draw pile and discarded a two from his hand. He glanced briefly at his cards.

"I raise the pot by an additional $10,000." He said flatly, placing the chips in the center.

The next man placed his chips on the board, almost like he was board, and the third did so as well, raising the total in the center to $130,000. But the man across the table from Fidel was apparently feeling a bit bolder than the rest of them.

"I raise the bid to $20,000." the man with the short black beard and an old-fashioned cowboy hat declared in a booming voice.

The man to black beard's right promptly folded: he was running out of chips and couldn't play anymore this round, but everyone else added or upped what they added to the pot so that the total that they added was $20,000 each.

The play continued, until the drawing round was complete and it was now Fidel's turn again. No one else had folded yet, and the amount in the pot was over $1 million. He was thinking that it was time to make things interesting, as until now, he had just been toying with them. Fidel glanced briefly at his cards, the spoke calmly.

"Now that the pot has grown to more significant numbers, I raise the pot by $2 million." He said, without the slightest amount of emotion showing on his face.

The next two piled their $2 million into the center, bringing the total up to $5 million, which wasn't really all that much, as far as Nicholas was concerned.

The black bearded man spoke up, "I will raise that by $10 Million."

The next man in the line folded. Obviously, he thought that the black bearded man wasn't bluffing. But, Nicolas knew better.

_So… this one thinks that he can bluff me out of the competition, so easily, eh…?_ Fidel thought to himself._ Let me see how he handles this…_

"I raise THAT by $10 million." Fidel responded flatly, glancing at the straight flush he had in his hands.

"You're on…" The man with the cowboy hat replied, with an ironic smile, as the other two folded. He was obviously a very convincing bluffer, but Fidel would not be tricked.

The price quickly tripled as the two of them raised the bets exponentially. Eventually, Fidel had to send the servant out to get chips of even higher value. Finally, those fateful words were spoken by the black bearded man.

"I'm all in…" Fidel's opponent whispered.

Fidel silently put the equivalent number of chips to that the man had added to his bet in the pot, raising the total to over $300 trillion; only a fraction of Fidel's fortune, but a flood of money to a common citizen. The stony faced world dictator laid down his cards face up, revealing the straight flush to the man with the cowboy hat who had come mysteriously out of nowhere to challenge him and four others to a game of poker.

The stranger didn't even blink, he laid his cards on the table, face down in front of Fidel, and then silently took all the chips. He pulled out a duffel bag, and poured all the chips into it and walked toward the door, his back straight.

Fidel flipped over the cards, then his eyes slightly widened in a moment in disbelief. His entire expression did not change at all, as he revealed a royal flush to the other five players.

_Impossible! _He thought, _I am the best poker player known to man!_

He moved his hand slowly toward the old desert eagle that he carried in the secret holster near his Boot, and then whipped it out, armed it faster than the eye could see, and then pointed it straight at the man who had just cheated him of $300 trillion. Fidel pulled the trigger three times, and the bullets hit the black bearded man in the back. There was no outcry, just a surprised gurgle as the blood flooded into his lungs. Fidel wasn't even fazed by the death of the victor, and his slight irritation burned like small embers deep inside his brain.

The man collapsed in a pool of blood, and the world dictator calmly unarmed the old handgun, and placed it back in its holster. He glanced at the other four competitors, who had looks of chagrin and sick outrage on their faces.

"I do not allow cheaters to escape me," Fidel said simply, as he leaned back in his chair. Portraying a sense of emotionless logic and calm was one of his greatest strengths. He pulled a cigar from out of one of his pockets, lit it, and then gave it a few puffs. "Nor would I allow someone to make off with even the smallest amount of my fortune in such a rude manner."

There was a hissing sound as the intercom turned on.

"Mr. Fidel, would you be kind enough to meet General Forte in the War Council Room?" The man spoke through the local radio, "The General has some extremely important information for you, which should be heard as soon as possible, sir."

The intercom turned off, and Fidel stood up. He walked casually over to the body in the doorway, and picked up the bag of the $300 trillion worth of poker chips.

"Gentlemen, I would like to stay and chat even further," Fidel said, casually swinging the duffel bag over his shoulder, "but I have some rather important business to attend to."

Without a second glance, or any expression on his grizzled face, the dictator calmly stepped over the body of the man he had just shot, and stumped out of the room.


	8. Chapter 6: Premonitions

**Chapter 6: Premonitions**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Merged this chapter and Memos of the Dictator into one chapter...<strong>

* * *

><p>July 8th, AD 2169, 10:00 AM.<p>

Location: Project Shadow Research Facility Bravo, _Robotnik Enterprises_, Somewhere in North America.

It was almost time for the ceremony, and Sonic was running late. It was supposed to start at exactly 1000 hours, but all the recruits who were about to receive their promotions were supposed to be there fifteen minutes early. Unfortunately, Sonic had been given permission ahead of time to have this morning to relax, and had failed to pay attention to the time.

He was in his private quarters reading a book, when his alarm went off. He swore when he checked his watch and saw that it was five till 1000 hours, and then began to frantically put on his dress uniform. This wouldn't have been much of a problem had he not tripped on the book he had been reading.

"Damn that book to hell!_"_ Sonic swore as he hit the ground with a crash, just moments after leaping from his chair in surprise. He pushed himself off of the floor and then scrambled into his uniform. He paused for a moment as he laced up his trademark running shoes, and then bolted out the door as fast as he could run.

Sonic rushed down the stairs of Barracks 24, jumped the fence, and sped down the running track. He past the sparring grounds, where the recruits were waiting to be let into the Assembly Hall, paused for a moment to wave at Tails, and then he dashed up the steps to the side entrance. He bolted through the door, and dashed towards the door that led to the stage, where he was certain that they were to be meeting at. He would've reached the door at the end of the, had someone not stepped out of one of the side rooms at that precise moment, and had started walking toward the exit.

The blue hedgehog tried frantically to slow down, but it was too late; his momentum and the slightly slippery linoleum carried him onward, and he skidded down the hallway, right into the path of the unfortunate victim. The last thing Sonic saw before the collision was a slim but blurred figure with thick red hair, and then, they collided. Sonic gave a startled grunt as he rammed head first into the side of unprepared recipient of the supersonic impact. With a startlingly feminine cry, they both tumbled the floor with a loud thump, and slid farther down the hallway before coming to a stop. His vision swam, and he blacked out for a brief moment.

When his vision cleared, he found himself staring directly into a pair of brilliant blue eyes. _Those eyes, _He thought, _where have I seen them before?_

He had the distinct impression that he should know who they belonged too. Sonic was abruptly jerked out of his thoughts by a soft voice.

"Are you going to let me up, or are you just going to just sit there and make this even more awkward for the both of us?"

With a startled glance, he realized that he was on top of the person he had collided with. She was a Mobian squirrel who looked to be about his age, and he had never seen anyone like her.

The girl's short red hair was tied back in a ponytail and seemed to enhance her light brownish-yellow fur. She had deep blue eyes that bespoke of intelligence, and had a hint of both kindness and determination in them, as well as a deep sadness. Her uniform was slightly rumpled, due to their collision, but the fact that it appeared as if she had ironed it before putting it on hinted at the fact that she cared about appearances.

"Sorry," Sonic replied, with an embarrassed blush. "I was in a hurry to get to the promotion ceremony, and you just walked out. Besides, I am still getting used to the speeds at which I can run…"

"It's okay," the squirrel interrupted, "I should've been paying more attention."

He stood up, and then casually offered his hand to her. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet. Their eyes made contact, for a brief moment, and in the fleeting contact between the sapphire and emerald eyes, something seemed to pass between them. Her eyes widened briefly, as if in recognition, but then the moment passed, and Sonic was left with the distinct impression he knew her.

"What is your name?" He asked, letting go of her hand.

She turned away from him and took a few steps toward the door, and then buried her head in her hands in apparent despair. After a few moments, she shook her head, but she still had it lowered.

"Everyone calls me Sally," She finally responded, still with her back to him. She sounded as if she was almost on the verge of tears.

On an impulse, Sonic walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Is something wrong, Sally?"

Sonic was sure that she was about to answer when he heard the voice of someone yelling from the room at which Sally had just exited.

"If you're done getting acquainted with each other, I think it is about time you get in here Sonic!" Captain William, who was current senior officer at Facility Bravo, boomed from inside the room. "You are the guest of honor, and we cannot start the ceremony without you."

Sally turned around sharply, and looked penetratingly at Sonic. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"I can't believe I didn't recognize him", She murmured so softly that Sonic could've imagined it. " He has changed so much, almost as if-"

At that moment, the captain cut her off. "Miss… Acorn, it seems as if I didn't need to send you to go wake him up, after all. You return as well."

In a daze, Sonic walked into the room where the recruits who were receiving their promotion were waiting.

_Did I really hear Sally say what I thought she said? _Sonic thought. _How could she possibly know me by sight…? Who is she, and why do I keep getting the distinct felling that I should know her?_

It was between five and ten minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start, when Sonic finally arrived at the Assembly Hall.

Knuckles watched as Sally exited the room to find Sonic. A few moments after the door had closed, he thought he heard what sounded like a heavy thump from out. He and a few others got up and took a step toward the door, but the captain silently waved them down.

Captain William walked to the door, briefly glanced out the door's window, and then walked back to his seat with a silent grin on his face.

"What is going on, Captain?" Knuckles asked.

"Shhh…Everyone stay quiet," The captain whispered to the thirty or so Mobians in the room. The captain occasionally had a mischievous streak, and this was apparently one of the times that it was manifesting. "I think Sonic just arrived, to Sally's surprise. Let us hear what they say to each other before we interfere. I think this may be interesting."

_At least he got here on time_, Knuckles thought sarcastically. _Of course someone who can run faster than the wind is going to be late._

They listened, and Knuckles was barely able to pick up the voices from outside. After about a minute, with little conversation, the Captain called them into the room. Sally took an empty seat from across the room, and sat down, her eyes determinedly fixed on the wall in front of her. Sonic sat down in the only available seat, which was of course, to Knuckles' chagrin, right next to him. No one wanted to speak, as if everyone in the room was in a trance.

The Minutes ticked by in silence, as the group of recruits waited for whatever signal it was that determined the time they needed to be on stage. Every now and then, Sonic and Sally's eyes would meet, and then she would rapidly turn her head, as if he had somehow insulted her, and Sonic's face would then temporarily twist into an expression of puzzlement, before resuming its current mask-like quality.

Knuckles was getting bored, but he chose to just sit there, not saying or doing anything. That was when it happened. His eyes widened and became unfocused, and a sense of dread rushed over him. He knew what it was, and the fact startled him even more than he realized. Without even realizing it, he began to speak.

"Not good… bad feeling about this… something terrible about to happen… death… pain… terror…!" the echidna mumbled. His voice started to rise, and soon, he was shouting, repeating the same sentence over and over again. Faintly, he heard the voices of Sally, Sonic, and some of the other Mobians telling him to snap out of it, but he couldn't respond. His mind was wrapped up in the horrifying vision that he couldn't clear from his was a brilliant flash of light, and some pain, and he blacked out for a moment.

The next think Knuckles knew, he was lying face down on the floor, with Sonic, Sally, and Captain William standing over them. Concern was etched into their faces.

"What happened Knuckles? Are you feeling well?" Sonic asked, as he held out his hand to help him to his feet.

"Dammit, Sonic! I am fine." He shook off Sonic's helping hand, and stood up by himself. His legs were a little wobbly, but he couldn't let the others see him as being weak, and besides, he was one of the toughest Mobians created by Professor Jason, he wouldn't let some minor trembling keep him away from his promotion ceremony.

"Well, then," The Captain said, "Why don't we get in line? We need to be out there in a couple of minutes, and we're keeping the audience waiting."

"Uh... Captain, may I speak with you a moment, privately?" Knuckles asked, as the other Mobians walked outside towards the back entrance to the stage.

"This isn't a good time Knuckles, could you wait until after the ceremony?" The Captain asked impatiently, as he walked to the door.

"No, it can't wait; It's important."

"Well then, speak up cadet, as we don't have all day. What's on your mind?"

"I think we should reschedule the ceremony, and request all officers and guards to be on alert. I have a gut feeling that something terrible will occur within a matter of hours."

"Are you sure that you are feeling well cadet? We cannot reschedule the ceremony again, especially when we are just about to start. I'm sure that feeling of dread you have is just your nerves." He turned toward the door.

"I'm fine, sir. If you can't reschedule the ceremony, can you at least see to it that all personnel on base are alert and ready for a potential emergency?" Knuckles asked, almost desperately.

The captain turned to face Knuckles, and stared solemnly at him. After a moments pause, he spoke again. "Very well, cadet, I see that you are indeed serious in this. Although it is probably nothing, I will see to it that all personnel on base are alert and ready for any potential emergency. It never hurts to be cautious, I suppose; in fact, I'll even double the guard here in the Gathering Hall. Just pray that this 'disaster' you suddenly had premonitions about doesn't happen. Now, get in line. We have delayed everyone long enough."

The captain walked out the door.

_Thank you, sir, _Knuckles thought as he lumbered to the back of the single file line. _That is all I was asking for. But I cannot shake the feeling that this ceremony will cost us dearly._

* * *

><p><strong>Sent on July 6th, 2169, at approximately: 5:00 PM Standard Orbital Time. Destination: Fortress Omega; G.U.N. General Headquarters.<strong>

**To: Lord Fidel, Supreme World Overlord. **

**From: Commander Jason O'tara, Comander of space colony ARK.**

**Clearance code: Alpha-5-17B-**** **

**Priority: High**

_Lord Fidel,_

_I was ordered to send you a direct message upon carrying out these orders to the letter. Further reports will be sent if you so require them. _

_Order Omega-21 has been completed. All orbital strike forces are aboard the ARK and ready for departure. All ground forces are preparing for their transportation to their respective staging area. All available Space-to-Ground Missiles have been programmed and aimed towards their respective military and government targets. Our, 'little surprise' is functioning should it need to be used, and all of the ARK's defenses have been put onto yellow alert, ready to be activated at the push of a single button._

_Our spies are sending out as much information as possible, and all enemy communications are being constantly monitored, redirected, and fed false information; they have no idea what is about to happen, and we should have complete surprise on our side._

_As ordered, we are standing by, awaiting your personal command to begin Phase Two of Operation Sabertooth._

_-Commander O'lark_

* * *

><p><strong>Sent on July 8th, 2169, at approximately: 10:05 PM Standard Orbital Time. Destination: Fortress Omega; G.U.N. General Headquarters.<strong>

**To: Lord Fidel, Supreme World Overlord. **

**From: Commander Jason O'tara, Commander of space colony ARK.**

**Clearance code: Alpha-5-17B-**** **

**Priority: High**

_Lord Fidel,_

_Orders regarding the diverting of Recon Team Charlie to Location U-125 has been received and carried out. They will be reporting directly to General Forte, and awaiting further orders, as instructed._

_They, and the rest, are awaiting your command to initiate Phase Two of Operation: Sabertooth, and they are eager to carry it out._

_It is time we bring the dissidents and rebels under the arm of the United Nations!_

_-Commander O'tara_


	9. Chapter 7: The Ceremony

**Chapter 7: The Ceremony**

July 9th, AD 2169, 10:05 AM.

Location: Project Shadow Research Facility Bravo, _Robotnik Enterprises_, Somewhere in North America.

It was five minutes past 1000 hours, and Tails was unsure why 300 Mobian recruits and their drill sergeants had lined up in formation, and stood at attention in front of the Assembly hall,waiting for the doors to open.

Tails was not in a good mood; his feet were aching from standing in the same place for the past half hour, and in their rush to get everyone here, the sergeants had rather efficiently robbed him of a well needed breakfast. Tired, hungry, and freezing, he stood at parade rest near the door to the Assembly Hall.

_Finally!_ He thought in relief, as he saw Sonic run to the side entrance, and without even thinking about it, he waved at the hedgehog. _They were waiting for him because he's the guest of honor. For a speed demon, he seems to have a habit of being late._

Sonic promptly waved back, and then dashed into the building, just as Sergeant Vance descended on him with a face darker than a storm cloud.

"DAMMIT RECRUIT," He shouted, his beet red face inches from the fox's face. "HOW HARD IS IT TO STAND STILL?"

"EASY, SIR!" Tails responded, almost automatically.

"THEN, YOU'D BETTER HAVE A PRETTY DAMN GOOD REASON FOR BREAKING YOUR BEARING, MAGGOT! DROP DOWN AND GIVE ME FIFTY!"

"FIFTY WHAT, SIR?"

"DAMMIT RECRUIT, FIFTY DOLLARS FOR HELL'S SAKE!" He bellowed sarcastically, "NO,PUSH-UPS, YOU DUMB-ASS! AND THAT'S ANOTHER FIFTY FOR BACK SASSING ME, RECRUIT!"

"But I didn't-"

"ONE HUNDRED PUSH-UPS! NOW, RECRUIT!" the sergeant bellowed again.

Tails dropped to the cold ground and began to do his push-ups. "ONE... SIR, TWO... SIR, THREE... SIR..."

Tails struggled the entire time. His body wasn't built for extended physical labor, and he was beginning to think that enlisting had not been worth it. _Caring for the Little Ones wouldn't have been as bad as this. _He thought.

Of course, as soon as he finished, the doors opened.

Sergeant Miller, swiped his card through the scanner next to the door. There was a beeping sound, and then the scanner's light flashed green.

The door slid open, and he entered. He flipped a switch, and with an electric sputter, the lights in the room flickered on, producing a dim light that illuminated everything within. Wires and heavy pipes threaded their way through the room, making hallways out of what would otherwise be a huge, empty room. Miller entered the makeshift hallway, and the door slid shut behind him. He walked forward, intent on his objective.

_If this feeling of dread that I am having turns out to be false, I can return it after the ceremony, _He thought, as he walked down the hallway. _If not... well, I think I will get to that if the time comes._

After a few twists and turns through the hallways lined with pipes, he finally got to his destination. The center of the room. A huge dome, a reactor, was built into the center of the room, and pipes and wires extended from it in random directions. The area was closed off by a chain link fence, but he could see a gate on the far side of the the fence, a wooden sign was posted with the words: "DANGER, HIGH VOLTAGE!" printed on them.

He walked over to the door, which was locked with another scanner. He swiped his card, and then the lock clicked as it recognized his identity. He opened the door, and stepped inside the room, careful not to touch anything.

Against the wall was a huge lever with two positions, one labeled "RESERVE POWER", the other labeled, "ON". It was currently set to reserve power, so that was good. That meant that the Chaos Reactor was not running, and it would be safe to remove the Emerald.

He walked over to the side closest to the hallway where he entered from, where a small hatch was built into the side of the Chaos Reactor. He reached out to turn the handle, but paused in contemplation.

_No sense letting myself get infected with its power,_He thought._ Better if I protect myself. Who knows what these things do to the body. _He pulled out a pair of leather gloves and put them on, then opened the hatch.

Inside was an elegantly carved gemstone, about the size of a large human hand. It was pure white, and it glowed brightly, a brilliant white light that could light up the darkest room. With great care, Sergeant Miller reached his hand in, and pulled the Chaos Emerald out of the reactor core, and placed it in a small leather pouch, which he then tucked inside his inner coat pocket.

He left the room, making sure to close and lock all the doors, and remove any pieces of evidence.

_I hope that this precaution was completely unnecessary, _He thought as he headed toward the Assembly Hall.

He entered the Assembly Hall through one of the side entrances, and followed the hallways to the back entrance to the stage.

Tails sat down heavily in the the middle of the second row. His feet were aching for standing so long, and he just needed a breather.

Almost as soon as he sat down, Captain Williams walked out and called everyone to attention.

_Of course it starts as soon as I enter,_ He thought bitterly, _Irony just seems to love me._

Two human soldiers, dressed in formal uniform, walked out onto the stage carrying sabers, and took up positions on either side of the stage. The honor guard.

The captain called out the first ten commissioned recruits, and shortly afterwords, ten recruits formed a line on the front of the stage. The Captain gave each of them their new rank pins, upon which the cadets saluted. Then they stepped back to make room, and the captain called in the next ten recruits. This process continued until the last few recruits were called out.

"Cadets Knuckles, Rouge, Sally, …" Captain Williams bellowed.

In response, a red echidna, a brown squirrel, and a black and white bat, as well as a few other Mobians walked out onto the stage, and formed up the last line of recruits. The Captain gave them their new rank pins, then saluted them as they stepped back.

Sonic glanced around nervously. _Where is he? It isn't like him to be late._

At that precise moment, Sergeant Miller walked around the corner, his hands in his pockets. He was looking around nervously, as if he had just stolen something.

_Finally, he shows up,_ Sonic thought.

"About time you got here," Sonic said rather casually, as his former mentor approached him almost sheepishly.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," The sergeant said, somewhat wearily.

His hands were still in his pockets, and Sonic noticed that there were beads of sweat glistening on his forehead. He looked as if he was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by an announcement made by Captain Williams.

"...and, last but not least, your valedictorian of Class C-1, Cadet Alpha "Sonic" Hedgehog." boomed the captain from on the stage.

Sonic grimaced at the mention of his old name, and Sergeant Miller chuckled, although it didn't look like he was having a good time.

"Looks like you will have to hang on to your original name for a while yet, Sonic." He whispered as the two of them walked out onto the stage.

Sonic approached the captain, and sprang to attention. The captain handed him his silver bar, signifying his new rank of 1st lieutenant, and then Sonic saluted him.

Sergeant Miller turned and saluted Sonic, even as Captain Williams returned the blue hedgehog's salute.

Sonic stepped back and stood in front of the others, as the captain called everyone else in the Assembly Hall to attention.

"These cadets have graduated the Mobian Officer Advanced Training Course," He bellowed "Everyone-"

His voice cut off as there was the sound of something huge crashing to the ground in the distance, almost like the sound of an explosion, and the room shook.

"What the hell was that?" Sergeant Miller muttered.

BOOM! Another crashing sound, this time, louder.

The captain stood, in stunned disbelief for a moment, and then he shook himself.

"Sergeant Vance! Prepare the defences, were under atta-!" His words were cut off permanently, as two gun shots echoed throughout the room.

Sonic watched with wide eyes as the captain's body toppled to the ground with a thud, that seemed almost as loud as the explosions that sounded in the distance, with blood and worse flowing from the hole between his eyes.


	10. Chapter 8: Hammerfall

**Chapter 8: Hammerfall**

Panic ensued as everyone began to scream, and run for the doors. But before anyone could reach the doors, they burst open.

A battalion of GUN special forces flooded through the doors, rifles at the ready, and wearing some kind of lightweight armor and helmets. As soon as he saw the soldiers, Tails dove beneath a chair, and covered his head.

_I'm too young to die!_ He thought, as he cowered.

The sound of more gunshots rang throughout the room, and he heard the screams of both men and mobians.

"Take some of these... vermin... alive," a gruff voice said, "Lord Fidel wants to study them personally."

In the confusion, Tails caught a glimpse of the scene by peeking around the edge of his seat, and what he saw wasn't pretty.

Some of the soldiers were rounding up mobians left and right. The others had their guns out and they were walking down the rows one by one, checking for anyone they had missed, while still others ran towards the stage, their rifles raised. On the floor, with blood flowing out from them, lay the bodies of all of Facility Bravo's human officers and NCOs.

A few more gunshots rang out against the wall, and Tails ducked under the seat again to avoid getting shot. He stayed that way for what felt like eternity, and then, everything was entire room seemed to have been cleared in less than 5 minutes.

_I'd better just stay low, for now,_ he thought, crawling on his hands and knees toward the stage. _Maybe I can sneak out through the back, then circle around and-_

Then, he froze as his sharp fox ears heard the clicking of a rifle from right behind him.

_Dammit!_ he thought, his ears drooping in defeat. He turned around to see that two of the Spec Ops had remained inside to check for any remaining mobians. One had his weapon pointed straight at him

"Get outside with the others, runt." the GUN soldier said, with no emotion in his voice.

As soon as the doors burst open, Sonic was yanked behind the curtain by Sergeant Miller.

"Officers, out the back," the sergeant muttered, motioning towards the door. "If you all are captured, then all is lost."

They all rushed into the hallway. Behind them, footsteps could be heard.

"What about the recruits?" Sally asked.

"No time!" the sergeant replied.

"But we cannot just leave them!" Sonic said, glancing back worriedly. He could easily outrun everyone, but the tile was slippery, and he still wasn't completely used to his new abilities yet.

After about 30 seconds of running, The Sergeant suddenly waved everyone down a side hallway, and motioned for them to be silent. They heard footsteps fade away.

Sergeant Miller peeked around the corner. At the end of the hallway, he could see that the door was open, and in the light, he thought he could make out two figures guarding the door.

"Dammit!" the Sergeant cursed,"Looks like they cut us off from the back exit.""What do we do now?" Sally whispered.

"We could fight," Knuckles suggested.

"No!" The sergeant whispered fiercely, "They already know we are trying to escape. If we try to fight, then they will just be able to pinpoint our location, and everyone will be on us in a moment. Professor Jason didn't spend ten years creating and training the first generation of Mobian Officers to have you all die before you even have a chance to reach your full potential. The world needs you all _alive_, not dead or captured, and I will not allow you to surccumb to those fates under my watch."

"Why are we more important the recruits?" Sonic asked almost irritatingly. After all, Tails was still back there, and the twin-tailed fox was almost like a little brother to him.

"Because they haven't received the training that you have." The Sergeant stated simply.

Sonic was about to reply when they heard the voices of a couple of GUN soldiers.

"Did any of those... vermin, try to escape through here?" The voice of an officer said.

"No, sir." Replied a second soldier, "No one has left through this door since we secured it."

"Then that means that the ones on the stage must still be here... Spread out!" The officer said.

The sounds of heavy Boots hitting the floor soon filled the corridors.

Sergeant Miller, rushed everyone down another side hallway, and into the room where they had waited for the ceremony. He ran to the a drawer, and pulled out a key, unlocked the cupboard, and pulled out an emergency pistol. He cocked it, and then he walked over to where Sonic was watching anxiously.

"Sonic," He said, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out a small black bag. "I want you to have this. Keep it safe, and use it only in extreme emergencies. Do not let it fall into the hands of Fidel's minions."

_Its almost as if he is saying goodbye,_ Sonic thought.

There was a thump at the door, and Sonic thought he heard a soldier yell something.

"Promise me Sonic," He said, looking more urgent.

"I promise," Sonic replied.

The Sergeant handed him the bag, then walked toward the door. Outside, it sounded as if there were at least a dozen soldiers.

He turned to back and smiled, looking at the mobian officers that he had helped to train.

"Sonic, you are in charge now. Don't make the mistake of letting your friends get captured or killed. I am proud of all of you," He said, almost calmly.

Sonic, tears now in his eyes, saluted his friend and longtime mentor.

"Good Luck, Sergeant." He said.

Sergeant Jake Miller opened the door, and charged out the doorway, his pistol blazing. Cries of pain, and spurts of blood flew through the doorway, he heard three bodies to the floor.

_NOOOO! _With a cry of pain and rage, Sonic opened the bag and with his right hand, held aloft a white Gemstone, no bigger than the size of a human hand. It shined with a light that seemed brighter than the sun. It was a Chaos Emerald. He felt the energy of the Emerald flow into him. He felt as if he could do _anything_, and despite his sorrow, there was a surge of joy as he raised the crystal higher into the air.

More soldiers burst into the room, leveling their guns at the mobians and telling them to surrender...

Rouge, Sally, Knuckles, and the other officers crouched into a fighting stance...

The soldiers cocked their guns...

With a yell, Sonic tapped into the energy he felt flowing into him, and broke through the mental barrier in his mind. He forced the energy deep within him to join with that of the Chaos Emerald, and enhanced by the Chaos Energy, he instinctually did something that he had only done once before, in the fight against Knuckles...

"CHAOS... CONTROL!" He shouted.

There was a flash of white light... and all the Mobian Officers vanished.


	11. Chapter 9: Rescue

**Chapter 9: Rescue**

With a yell, Sonic tapped into the energy he felt flowing into him, and broke through the mental barrier in his mind. He forced the energy deep within him to join with that of the Chaos Emerald, and enhanced by the Chaos Energy, and with that energy he instinctually did something that he had only done once before, in the fight against Knuckles...

"CHAOS... CONTROL!" He shouted.

A burst of white light _exploded _from the Chaos Emerald, and in it, he re-wove the world: Warping the very fabric of space and time in order to transport his friends to safety. He spun his friends into their own bubble of space-time, and sent it towards a nearby place where he knew they would be safe: a hidden bunker not two miles from Facility Bravo, built specifically for_ Mobians_ to take shelter in should an event like what had just happened to take place. He was the last one alive who knew about it.

_Now, _He thought, _Lets see if I can save those recruits before it is too late..._

And with that thought, he warped reality once again...

As the soldiers burst into the room, Sally "Acorn" the Squirrel closed her eyes. _Dammit! We're cornered!_

Right when she thought that they were about to be captured or killed, she thought heard someone yell, "CHAOS...CONTROL!"

_Was that Sonic?_ She asked herself.

There was a brief flash of white light that burned through her eyelids, and for a split second afterwards, it felt as if her entire body was stretched into a thin line; then there was silence. Surprised, she opened her eyes... and found herself floating alone in a void filled with swirling colors and sparks of what looked like electricity.

_What the hell?_ She thought, looking around.

"Hello?" she asked,"Sonic? Knuckles?"

Her questions faded into soft echoes. She cocked her ears, expectantly , but there was no response. There was nothing except for the soft murmuring echoes of the void of her questions.

Sally floated in the void for what seemed like an eternity, the swirling colors not giving any sense of time or distance. As time ticked by unmeasured, she directed her thoughts towards various problems, giving her time to come to grips with what had just occurred, and allowing herself to gain control of her emotions.

_If I am going to survive long enough to see Fidel pay for what he did to my friends and family,_ She thought, _I have to keep my emotions under control. I am a tactician, not a crybaby, so it is time I start acting like one._

After what felt like ages, a sense of traveling surfaced in her mind, although she was certain that she was still stationary. Was her mind playing tricks on her? It was an odd feeling.

Then, there was another flash of light and suddenly she found herself lying on the ground of a room.

Sally pushed herself to her feet, and glanced around. It appeared like she was in the room some kind of Bunker, and an odd one at that. The ceiling seemed only to be 5 feet high, a bit cramped for most humans, but perfectly comfortable for Mobians.

Scattered around the room randomly, a few other Mobians sat up and shook their heads as if they had just woken up from a deep sleep. She could see Knuckles and Rouge standing up and looking around the room in wonder. Something was off with this scenario, and it took her a moment to figure out exactly what it was.

"Where's Sonic?" She asked.

Tails was marched outside at gunpoint by the soldier, and when he stepped outside, he gasped. Several of the buildings had broken windows, and even small chunks of wall had broken from the walls. Dead human soldiers lay everywhere in pools of blood and guts, and the remains of Orbital Drop Pods lay in small smoke filled even thought saw a couple mobians strewn among the dead. Tails shuddered and looked away trying to suppress the urge to throw up.

All the mobians were being held at the Parade Ground, kept in groups of no more than fifteen or twenty, each group under the watchful gaze of five or six Tails arrived, the GUN Soldiers wordlessly shoved him toward a random group. Tails sat down, not wishing to start anything under the watchful gaze of their captors. He knew that it would be impossible to escape.

"I thought that you had managed to get away," A female voice whispered quietly from beside him. It was the voice of Amy Rose, a tan hedgehog with pink hair from his platoon.

"Apparently, I'm not as lucky as you would make me out to be," He replied quietly, turning his head slightly so he could see her better.

She had a worried expression in her green eyes, but Tails could tell that she was fighting to keep calm. From what he had saw of her during the week spent here, he figured that she had a strong spirit and no lack of courage.

"Amy, what do they plan to do with us?"the cream-colored rabbit next to Amy asked worriedly.

"I am not sure, Cream," Amy replied, doing her best to sooth the rabbit, "But whatever happens, I believe that we will be able to get through it."

"NO TALKING," a soldier nearby thundered.

Both Amy and Cream promptly shut their mouths, but Tails' ears flattened slightly at the remark, and he had to suppress the irritating backlash that was right on the verge of coming out of his mouth.

_Careful, Miles, It would be unwise to say anything to any of the GUN soldiers_, Tails thought to himself. _You are not a fighter... not yet, anyway. Speaking out now will only get yourself and others injured or killed._

The question that Cream had raised was an interesting one. Why would GUN, the international military, be interested in killing the humans on base while trying to capture the mobians_ alive_? It didn't make any sense.

His thoughts were interrupted as the sound of a large airship droned from overhead, keeping him from thinking. He looked up and saw the sun getting drowned out by one of Fidel's orbital transport ships.

_Damn,_ He thought,_ I knew they were big, but that... that is impossible! How can something that huge stay aloft?Just the amount of fuel required to keep that thing in the air more than a minute would be ridiculous!_

There was a crashing sound, and the next thing moment, he saw some kind of huge pod on the ground not too far away from the parade ground. It was attached to the airship by a long beam of energy to the Airship.

It took him a moment to add the airship to the puzzle, but when he did, it all clicked.

_Fidel must want to study us,_ He thought, _and who knows what that would entail._

When the soldiers saw the pod, they formed up around their respective group, and ordered the mobians to stand up. The soldiers forced them all into lines and then began herding them all like cattle towards the pod. One at a time, each mobian that reached the pod was shoved into it roughly.

After about ten minutes,roughly forty Mobians were loaded into the pod, and the soldiers shut the door signaling that it was full. Soon, the pod was tugged back into the airship, even as another pod hit the ground in the same place with a thud. The soldiers opened the door and began the loading process once more.

Tails did the math in his head, and came to the conclusion that at this rate, it would take the GUN soldiers an hour for all the mobians to be loaded into the airship. Since he was at the back of the lines, That meant he had one hour of freedom left to enjoy; Or... one more hour to devise an escape plan.

Amy shuddered as she looked up at the airship, which was hovering above like a dark rain cloud. She didn't know what it meant, but her gut told her that whatever awaited them on the airship, it wouldn't be pretty. These GUN soldiers had a fearsome reputation, and she feared that her friends and family would soon know exactly why that reputation existed.

Beside her, Cream the Rabbit started to cry as the second drop pod was opened.

Tails was in the middle of developing a plan to escape when he heard the rabbit start to how He was in already in a bad enough mood from being captured, this would only aggravate him.

_Dammit,_ He thought._ Just what I need. That rabbit is going to draw the soldiers attention like a beacon._

He endured the sounds of the sniveling rabbit for about ten minutes, his temper steadily rising even as he hoped that Cream would calm down. Amy did her best to try to calm her friend down, but to no avail.

Finally, after fifteen minutes of nervously waiting, Tails had enough of it. If that rabbit didn't quiet down, sooner or later a guard will hear the noise, and then Cream would be in the toaster, and possibly Amy and Tails as well.

"Tell Cream to shut it," Tails whispered to Amy.

"What?" Amy asked quietly.

"Tell... Cream...To shut... her trap," Tails whispered a little more loudly. "If the guards hear her, we're gonna be in bigger trouble than we are now."

"But she's scared," Amy protested quietly, "I am doing the best that I can to comfort her, but she just won't stop. Besides I was trained as a medic back at the bunk, not as a babysitter."

_Hmmm,_ Tails thought, _So Amy was trained as a medic, eh? That could be useful. Maybe I should take her along with me when I make my escape._

"If she won't listen to you, then slap her," He said, almost flippantly, "You'd be surprised at how well a good slap across the face can help a hysterical person calm down. Heck, back at my bunk, whenever I started crying, someone would slap me across the face really hard. It was quite effective, and shut me up pretty quick."

"I would never do that," She said, her voice betraying a fair amount of shock and horror at what he just said.

"Dammit, Amy! If you don't want to slap her, then tell her that if she doesn't shut up now, those guards are gonna do it for her," Tails snapped exasperatedly, his temper starting to boil. He was trying to save their bacon by trying to focus on forming an escape plan, which he couldn't concentrate on anyway with Cream bawling like an infant.

"And if that happens," Tails continued without thinking, "I will probably get screwed over big time as well, and I have enough problems as it is."

"Screwed over?" Amy practically thundered, "Screwed...over?! We are already screwed are about to be transported to who-knows-where, by GUN forces probably planning to torture and interrogate us, and all you care about is the fact that Cream is bawling like the little girl she is?! For what, you selfish bastard, just to momentarily save your hide?"

_Dammit!_ Tails thought,_ If we were screwed before, now we're FUBAR. Why do I even bother?_

He opened his mouth to tell _her_ to shut it, but it was too late; if Cream's crying hadn't alerted the soldiers, then Amy just certainly did. The two nearest GUN soldiers walked over and stood menacingly over the trio near the back of the line.

"Is there a problem, Runt?" one of the soldiers asked her in a dangerously quiet voice.

Amy, her own temper ignited by Tails' rash and un-thoughtful comments, didn't notice the warning embedded in the soldier's voice.

"Yes there is, actually," She began hotly.

Tails gave himself a facepalm, then silently began praying for Amy's soul, even as the second drop pod was hauled back into the airship.

_Note to self, _He thought_,_ _Never try talking to women when you are about to be transported to a POW camp._

Sonic had never traveled via Chaos Control before; in fact, he had only used it once before, and he wasn't sure exactly how it worked.

Either way, he was relieved when the second flash of white light transported him back to the real world. He didn't know how long he had spent in the void, and he didn't care, as long as he was able to save as many recruits as possible from whatever fate GUN had in store for them.

He blinked, and found himself standing on a hill above the Parade Ground, the grass blowing softly in the breeze of air washing down from above. Sonic glanced around, making sure to survey the situation accurately before taking he saw told him exactly what he feared was happening.

There was an airship with the GUN logo flying above Facility Bravo, and a drop pod was on the ground, the chain of light that was its tether to the airship glowing brightly in the the parade ground he saw a line of Mobian recruits extending from the Drop Pod out into the Parade Ground, guarded by GUN soldiers.

Even as Sonics mind began formulating a plan, the Drop Pod was tugged sharply back up into the air ship, and moments later, a replacement drop pod crashed down into about the same place as the previous one.

Sonic watched as the soldiers began to load the Mobians into the pod one at a time, sometimes even picking the poor things up by the scruff of the neck and just shoving them in.

_I could destroy the pod, but that could put those Mobians in further danger, _he thought, dashing quickly to another spot on the hill in order to get a better view of the line.

As he moved, Something caught his eye near the back of the line. He squinted, and thought he could make out a yellow and white twin-tailed fox standing at the back of the line next to a female hedgehog with bright pink hair and a small cream colored rabbit. Two of the soldiers nearby walked over, and started to arguing with the hedgehog, while the rest of the line continued on toward the drop pod.

_Uh-oh,_Sonic thought, moving forward so he could see a little better, _That doesn't look too good._

Then, with just one hand, one of the soldiers picked up the pink-haired hedgehog by the throat...

"Leave her alone," Tails said, though he knew it wouldn't do any good.

In fact, he probably should've kept his mouth shut: The soldier holding Amy ignored him, but the other soldier unemotionally bashed Miles across the side of the head with the butt of his rifle, knocking the fox to the ground, and causing stars to swirl and flash in front of his eyes.

Tails shook his head, clearing it enough to where he could see what was going on from his vantage point on the ground.

"Listen, girl," the soldier who held Amy in his death grip said coldly, " I don't give a shit about the fact that your friend is bawling like the baby she is, or about the fact that your friend just pissed you off. Whatever the circumstances, I do not care. What I do care about is the fact that you _yelled_ when you were not even supposed to whisper, runt. You, and your 'friends', will... keep... all... of... your... mouths... shut, just like the rest of these runts, or there will be consequences. _If_ I, or one of my fellow soldiers hear another peep out of you or your friends, I will personally squash the life out of you like the vermin that you are. Understand?"

Amy gasped for air.

"Do you understand me?" The soldier asked again, tightening his grip slightly.

Amy gasped, and tried to nod her head, but couldn't.

"Frank," The other soldier said sharply, "Our orders are to take them alive, not to kill them."

But Frank seemed to ignore his fellow, and Amy's face was starting to turn blue.

"She understands," Cream said, in a frightened voice, "Please, don't hurt her."

The soldier named Frank met Cream's teary brown eyes for a moment, then glanced at his fellow soldier's gaze. Slowly, Frank nodded, and let go of Amy, who dropped to the ground with a soft thump, gasping for air.

"Get back in line," The second soldier said simply, then he and Frank turned around and started to walked off.

Amy spent a good ten seconds gasping for air, and then struggled to a standing position

"You monster," Amy spat at the soldier. "You think of us as nothing but playthings, don't you?"

Frank's back stiffened, and slowly he turned around, his face turning red with anger.

"Monster?" He said, clenching his rifle tightly, "I just showed you mercy, and you have the guts to call me a... monster? How about I show you just how much of a monster I can be..."

"Frank..." The other soldier warned, also turning around.

"Don't worry, Josh," Frank replied, eyes flashing as he stalked back towards Amy,"I am just going to rough her and her friends up a bit."

"Didn't we just do that?" Josh asked, eying Tails and Cream. Both soldiers were now facing Amy.

"That was enforcing the rules. This is for my personal amusement," Frank said, smiling chillingly, "Want to help?"

"Why not?" Josh said, glancing briefly at the other guards. "Its not like our superiors would _disapprove... _so long as we keep them_ alive. _We _are still_ herding them towards the drop zone after all. "

The two soldiers walked forward, obviously prepared to beat the crap out of their victims.

Amy just stood still, meeting their eyes without flinching. Like all the recruits in her platoon, She had not received any combat training, and as such, was practically defenseless against a trained soldier. Despite this, she stood her ground as if she had been trained on how to fight.

Still, it seemed like she was ready for them this time.

_Well, _Tails thought to himself as he stood up,_ It looks like Amy might need some help. Two vs. one isn't really all that good odds, especially against trained soldiers. Heck, I'm no fighter, at least not yet, but I could give the three of us an opportunity to escape if I play my cards against two will even the odds a little bit._

When the guard let go of the pink haired hedgehog, Sonic breathed a sigh of relief. If he had sprung into action right then, on the spur of the moment, he may not have had enough time to take out all the soldiers.

Before doing anything else, he quickly noted the positions of all the guards, and ran a few rough calculations through his mind.

_Okay,_ He thought, _Time to see how I fare against these guys in a fight._

Sonic tapped into the internal energy, and pushing it out behind him, he tore down the hill at blinding speeds in the direction of the drop pod. The wind whirled around him, stinging his eyes, and making the rest of the world a blur, but he kept on jumped, twisting in mid air, even while diverting some of the energy to his extremities to protect them from the upcoming impact and add even more force to his blow. Sonic extended his leg in a side kick, aiming for the guard's head...

The force with which Sonic hit the unfortunate soldier was enormous. With a squelching crack, the guard's head was _smashed_ off the body, spilling blood and brains over the ground as the body collapsed.

Sonic's momentum carried him forward however, and he dashed across the parade ground, unable to turn in time to attack another guard. He changed the direction the energy was pushing him, and was treated to as sharp a 180 degree turn as significantly reduced his speed, but that couldn't be helped. Running that fast blurred his vision, and in order for his attacks to be accurate, he needed to see where all the guards were located. Besides, he needed to slow down in order to turn around.

Frank raised the butt of his rifle and struck at Amy, but she was ready this time. With a calculated motion, and almost a taunting flip of her BDU, she ducked under the swing and out of harms way.

With Amy taking on the other Guard and keeping him busy, that left Tails to take the other one. He had to keep Josh off of Amy and Cream's back long enough for her to do something

Tails felt a soft growl come to his lips, and he crouched low, flattening his ears and peeling back his lips. He stepped in between the remaining soldier and Cream, in part a gesture of protection, and a desire to close with his Josh lunged at him, Tails did what any _normal _fox would do: With a squeaky growl, Tails _pounced _at the soldier, and sank his needle sharp teeth into the guard's leg, as if it was a huge piece of sausage or chicken. Tails_ loved_ sausage and chicken!

With a startled yell, Josh dropped his rifle and began shaking his leg, trying to get the fox off, but to no avail. Tails had a death grip of the soldier, and try as he might, the little yellowish-orange fox could not be shaken off.

Frank lunged at Amy again and again, trying to hit her in the face, or grab her. Despite the soldiers speed, Amy was one step ahead of him due to anticipation. Almost effortlessly, Amy slid out of reach each time, knowing that if he caught her she would be at his mercy. Each time Amy dodged, She moved further and further away from Cream, hoping to distract him long enough for her friend to get away.

_Just remember, stay out of reach, and go with the flow,_ Amy thought to herself, _You are a leaf in the wind, a ballerina. _

She danced aside, dodging yet another blow, amazed at how much of the basic defensive training she remembered from her time at her Bunk.

_If only I remembered how to take down a human,_ She thought.

She ducked and twirled, avoiding a backhanded swing the soldier threw at her. She twirled out of the way, and behind him, then made the foolish mistake of trying to punch the back of his knee at the same time.

Because Amy was too busy focusing on the movement of her opponent, she forgot to watch her footing. Her clumsy counter attack caused her to misstep, and she lost her balance. Pain shot up her leg as her ankle twisted, and she toppled to the ground with a thud.

"Oh shit!" She cursed, a tear coming to her eye

"It doesn't become a lady to use such language," Frank said tauntingly.

The soldier turned around, and reached his hands out to grab her again...

The soldier managed to shake Tails off of his leg, but the fox knew that if he didn't stay latched on, he would be knocked senseless. He was fueled by primitive instinct, dimly overlayed by his personal intelligence.

With another squeaky growl, Tails leapt high into the air and came right down on the soldiers face, biting and scratching like a feral fox. With one swipe of his hand, Tails knocked the helmet off Josh's head and then sank his teeth into the soldier's neck. Josh stiffened, as Tails' teeth severed the side of his windpipe, and collapsed to the ground, dying.

Tails stood up, a bit bruised, but not really the worse for wear. His heart was racing from the thrill of the kill and he could still taste the metallic texture of blood in his mouth. He wiped what blood he could off of his face and stood in triumph, still stuck in the moment. Victory was so satisfying!

Slowly, his instincts began to settle down, and his rational mind began to take over. Only then, did he realize that he had just_ killed_ someone. At that realization, all thoughts of escape that had began to fill his mind again simply fled.

_I...have never... killed anything...before, _He thought, feeling sick.

The tears dripped from his eyes as the full realization of what he had just done hit him full force.

Cream had been standing in dumbfounded belief when the fight with the soldiers began, and she watched in shock as Tails stepped between her and the soldier.

_He...really does... care!_ She thought.

Then she gaped in shock at the ferocity with which Miles attacked the guard. He latched onto Josh's leg as if it were a ham sandwich. Gentle, timid Tails, someone she had long had a crush on, had transformed from an enlightened Mobian into a primal fox.

Just the thought of the one she liked transforming into a monster, like that was something scary to consider, and she wasn't sure her mind could handle it.

Tails was flung off of the soldiers leg, but immediately leaped right back into the fray, pouncing into the air and attacking the soldiers face. The soldier raised his arms and tried futilely to pull the twin tailed fox off, but it was too late. With a swipe, Tails knocked the helmet off of the GUN soldier, and sank his teeth deep into the side of the soldiers neck.

The soldier collapsed to the ground, and Tails stood, his mouth dripping blood. Then, he wiped his mouth, and stared at the body for a long moment, a few tears flowed down his cheek, but Cream didn't seem to notice.

Cream wasn't really much older than a child, and as such, her emotions were not really fully developed. Her fear,for some reason, suddenly morphed into joy, and without thinking she found herself bounding forward and leaping into his arms.

"Tails!" She gasped.

And to the fox's surprise, she glomped him full on the lips.

Sonic dashed at the the next guard, this time kicking the guard in the chest at an angle, shattering the soldier's chest. Wish a heave, Sonic rebounded off the body and charged into another guard that was nearby, sending the body flying. In a flurry of wind and dust, Sonic delivered kick after charging kick,in what felt like slow motion. Each time he took out a guard, he rebounded off the body, changing his trajectory to target a new guard. When the dust settled, all the guards were dead, their blood, bodies and insides sprawled in the dirt and muddy grass like confetti.

He turned, and saw the mobian recruits huddled on the ground in fear.

"Its OK," the blue hedgehog said. "Its me, Sonic."

The mobian recruits looked up, but something in the distance caught his eye:

One last guard, and a pink haired blur...

_Dammit!_ He thought, _I forgot about her!_

"Stay here," He said to the recruits, "I will be back."

Sonic charged.

Amy closed her eyes, sure that she was about to have the life squeezed out of her. But that moment didn't come.

There was the a huge gust of wind, and a thud. Timidly, Amy opened her eyes. The soldier that was about to kill her moments before was dead on the ground, his chest obviously shattered by the force of an enormous impact. Standing in front of her was a blue hedgehog with brilliant green eyes standing over her

"Are you hurt, recruit?" He asked.

"Yes," She said. "I think, my ankle is twisted."

"I can carry you, if you like," Sonic offered.

"Thank you," Amy said, somewhat astonished.

Sonic knelt down, and picked her up.

"Is Tails nearby?" He asked.

"He's over there." Amy replied, pointing in the direction of the fox.


	12. Chapter 10: Fallout

**Chapter 10: Fallout**

July 9th, AD 2169, About 11:30 AM.

Location:ARK Space Station, orbiting the planet Earth, somewhere above North America.

Commander O'tara, commanding officer of the GUN forces stationed on the ARK, and the commanding officer of GUN Special Forces, watched the invasion of the hidden base with a feeling of pride. His forces had invaded the facility with almost no casualties, and had successfully killed off all enemy soldiers.

To his astonishment, his Special Forces had found creatures in the base that no man outside the facility had seen before. Short creatures, not much taller than 3 feet on average, that looked to be some kind of cross between animals and humans. There were over 100 or so of the creatures on base, and it looked almost as if they were having some kind of ceremony...

He shuddered. Just thinking about them made his blood run cold. Such abominations were thought to exist only in myth, and his soldiers just stumbled onto something bigger than any of them had imagined. References to a creature similar to these things were made to this in Professor Gerald's records, but anything noted was sketchy at best; most of the information in the ARK's database on Project Shadow was erased or damaged during the invasion by GUN forces. All that was mentioned was that Shadow was a genetically engineered creature, designed to be a weapon. If these Mobians were anything like Shadow, then he would have to gather as much information about them as possible; they would probably be dangerous, and may allow his scientists to recreate Project Shadow through reverse engineering.

Despite his initial revulsion, he ordered his soldiers to capture the things. He was sure that they would prove interesting to Fidel, and if the enemy was breeding these... Mobians - as they seemed to be called - then, it wouldn't hurt to experiment on them. Know your enemy, was his philosophy, and studying these creatures would do just that. After all, it was in the name of Science and Defense, and these things were probably supposed to be some kind of super soldier, as judging by the surprisingly militaristic ceremony.

The communication officer's console beeped, shaking him out of his private thoughts.

"Who's that?" Commander O'tara asked irritatingly.

"Its... Fidel, Sir," The comms officer said, haltingly.

"Well, don't just sit there soldier," O'tara ordered, eyes flashing, "Patch him through to my chair!"

"Y-yes... Sir," The comms officer stammered, pressing the button.

There was another beep, and the gruff voice of the dictator seemed to pierce the room, although an anti-eavesdropping field had immediately cloaked the Commander's chair. O'tara was sure that It had that same effect on anyone who heard it.

"Report, Commander," Fidel said flatly, without any attempt at formality, or camaraderie.

"I sent a Recon team in a little over an hour ago, sir..." Commander O'tara replied, "Like you ordered, all humans within the base were killed, and the database is being downloaded now."

"And what did you find?" he interrupted, casually.

"From what we can tell at first glance, It appears to be some kind of military training center-"

"For who?"

"We don't know, Lord Fidel-"

"You don't know who owns the base, or what their intentions are?" Fidel cut in, his voice assuming a cold tone.

"We don't know_ yet,_ your supremacy," O'tara corrected himself hastily, "We managed to upload the entire database to the ARK, but the files are heavily encrypted, and it may take some time to decipher. All we know at the moment is guesswork based on what we have seen and observed..."

"And that is?" Fidel asked impatiently, interrupting O'tara when he paused to take a quick breath.

"I was getting to that, sir."

"Well then, continue."

O'tara suppressed the desire to let out an exasperated sigh; showing any kind of impatience with the Dictator could easily prove... dangerous. With a deep breath, he told Fidel about the Mobians, silently crossing his fingers for luck.

There was a very long moment of silence when Commander O'tara finished. He felt beads of sweat pop up on his forehead as he waited for Fidel's response.

"Very interesting, Commander," Nicholas Fidel finally said, "These... Mobians... are they intelligent?"

"They seem to be," He answered, relieved that Fidel actually seemed pleased. "Although, I am not one hundred percent sure."

"And you have captured them?" Fidel asked.

"Yes, sir," O'tara responded, "I thought that I may be able to shed some additional light onto what was going on at that facility by studying them. "

"Very well, Commander," Fidel said in satisfaction."I have sent you further instructions on what to do concerning that base. Once I have terminated the communications, and you have gathered as much information as you can, carry out them out immediately..."

"Yes, Lord Fidel."

There was a brief moment of silence, and then Fidel spoke once more.

"Oh, and one last thing Commander," He said, "when those animal-creatures arrive on the ARK, make sure to send me a few of them."

"I will see to it, my Lord" O'tara said, smiling at the thought.

"Good. Your report has left me a little bit curious, and i wish to satisfy curiosity... and amusement... personally."

And with that, the communication line to the surface broke off with an audible click.

O'tara turned to his console, and opened up his messaging box. He scanned through it, noting that there was a report from the ground sent a few minutes ago, in addition to the orders just sent from Lord Fidel.

He opened the report and scanned through it with an audible grunt. All it really said was that all troops had convened at the parade ground in preparation for evac and as extra security for the Mobians. Other than a faint energy fluctuation detected near the parade grounds, everything seemed normal.

Commander O'tara closed the report, and then opened the orders. He scanned through the brief message, then turned his chair back to the front so he could see the younger officers stationed on the bridge.

"Have we finished downloading the data from the bunker?" He asked his comms officer.

"Yes, sir."

"What about the loading of the mobians into the airship?"

"Fifty or so have been loaded already, and the third group is about to be loaded into a drop pod."

"Very well then," O'tara said, "Give orders to divert power from the energy reserves to the Eclipse Cannon. Have it charged to 10% power, and order the EC team to target the base; they are not to fire until I give the order. Once the prisoners are loaded, have the airship fly out of range. I think it is time we have a little impromptu weapons test."

"Sending the orders now, sir," the comm officer sounded off.

One minute later, the comms officer reported that the Eclipse cannon was at 5 percent power and rising steadily. It was only moments after that declaration when alarming reports began flooding in from the surface.

In a matter of seconds All his soldiers on the ground were brutally killed, struck down by a mysterious force in less than thirty seconds.

Commander O'tara stood up, his normally calm face now showing a hint of anger and irritation.

"Get that airship out of range of the cannon!" He shouted.

"Yes, Sir!"

"What's the charge in the Eclipse Cannon?" he asked the comms officer, as he struggled to control his temper.

"It just reached 6 percent, sir!"

"That will have to do. Time to show these dissidents what happens when you mess with GUN."

O'tara watched the airship fly out of range rapidly, then personally hailed the Eclipse Cannon team.

"This is Commander O'tara..."

"Yes, sir?" The EC Lieutenant responded through the intercom.

"Fire!" Commander O'tara said.

The four pincer like jaws of the Eclipse Cannon opened up, revealing a small ball of concentrated energy with a faint greenish tinge. With a whirring hum the beam condensed and intensified, as the beam reached the peak of its charging.

With a lurching blast, the ball of energy exploded from the ARK,as an arc of intensely hot bar of pure death. It hurtled downward at speeds that would boggle the mind of any human, and entered the atmosphere. At just over 6% power, the Eclipse Cannon just sealed the fate of the military base known as Facility Bravo.

Suddenly There was a rushing surge accompanied by a flash of green light, and Sally, Knuckles, and the other Mobian Officers were thrown to the ground as it shuddered and lurched violently under the force of an enormous explosion or impact. Pieces of the bunker roof fell from the ceiling, knocking dust particles into the air, and the lights flickered as if being affected by a huge power surge.

She huddled in her corner, covering her head to prevent injury and praying to some unknown God that they wouldn't die.

Sonic carried Amy over to where Cream and Tails were standing close together. When Sonic approached, They hurriedly stepped away from one another, giving each other guilty looks.

"We need to gather everyone together," he said, "I think that there are more GUN forces aboard the ship, and it won't take long for them to organize a counterattack."

With a glance, Sonic noticed that Tails had an embarrassed look on his face, and looked as if he had been crying; Cream on the other hand was flat out blushing, almost as if she had just said something intimate to him...

"I understand", Miles said, turning hurriedly so Sonic couldn't see his face.

With a brief burst of speed, the fox ran in the direction of the remaining recruits, his twin tails spinning.

But before Tails could get very far, Sonic saw the airship pull away from above Facility Bravo.

_Dammit, _He thought. _I cannot save the recruits already on the ship if it moves away! I thought they would counterattack, not retreat._

"Why would they retreat?" Sonic muttered, thoughtfully.

_This doesn't seem right..._ He thought.

"What is it?" Amy asked him.

But the blue hedgehog didn't air seemed silent. Too silent. He looked up, not knowing what he would see...

... and then there was a flash of green light.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Sonic yelled.

For the third time that day, he tapped into the energy within and began to channel it. But it was not enough to save many of the recruits. They were just too spread out!

He drew in more of the Chaotic Energy, but it still wasn't enough. He combined it with the energy he could naturally manipulate, amplifying and strengthening his power with the Chaos Emerald, and straining his body to its limits. The emerald in his pocket glowed brighter than when he had last used it, forcing as much of the energy within it as he possibly could. Time seemed to slow down, and his mind felt like it was squeezed between a rock and a hard place…

With a yell, Sonic wove the energy around himself, Amy, Tails, Cream, and pushed the sphere out as far as he could, trying to enclose as many mobian recruits as he possibly could. Even with the Chaos Emerald amplifying his abilities , he didn't seem to have enough power to spread the protective barrier any further! He still… wasn't strong enough…

"CHAOS... SHIELD!" He thundered, transforming the energy into a barrier.

Then the beam of green light hit the shield, and for a few glorious moments, Sonic was able to stand toe to toe with a concentrated beam of pure energy, _Pushing back with equal force_ against the wave of death. He struggled, fighting the beam of energy head on, but the pressure the beam put against the shield was increasing, and he couldn't keep this up for much longer. If they stayed here, they would all die…

_I... Just...Cannot let them all die_, Sonic thought, gritting his teeth as the additional strain on his body struggled to tear him body apart.

He drew in even more energy and then used the one ability that had not failed yet…

"CHAOS CONTROL!" He shouted.

Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, and all the mobian recruits within the Chaos Shield vanished in a flash of white light.

Moments later, the entire area that had been Facility Bravo was consumed and decimated by the impact of a brilliant beam of green energy from the Eclipse Cannon, killing everyone that was still alive within the base.

"Target destroyed, sir!"

"Excellent," O'tara replied with a cold smile; whatever had killed that battalion was sure to be dead now.

"How much power reserve is left in the Eclipse Cannon?" He asked.

"A little less than 1%, sir!" An officer replied.

If a single blast consumes that much energy just for one attack that devastates a small area of land, He thought, then this weapon truly is a monster. How much destruction could the Eclipse Cannon cause when fully charged?

He shuddered at the thought. Professor Gerald was just pure evil to design a weapon of this magnitude, but never the less, he would use it.

"Good work, gentlemen." He said, taking a moment to compose himself, "Set the Eclipse Cannon to standby, and divert all unnecessary power from the generator to recharge it. I want that thing to have at least a 25% charge within the next hour. It should be ready to give off more than a single blast if the need arises."

"Yes, sir!" the engineer replied, and with an audible click, the connection terminated.


	13. Chapter 11: Devastation

**Chapter 11: Devastation**

To Sally it seemed that the earthquake lasted an eternity, as she huddled against the wall for dear life, covering her head as she had been taught to do during her training. Finally, the earthquake stopped.

_What the hell was that?_ She thought, lifting her head up cautiously.

Dust circulated around the bunker room, blurring her view and causing her eyes to water in the dim light. From what she could see, small pieces of the concrete ceiling were on the floor, testifying to the severity of the earthquake. She could make out the form

"Report," She coughed, glancing around the room one more time. "Is everyone okay?"

Rouge was the first and only response.

"I am fine except for a few bruises. However, we have three officers dead, two severely injured," She called out from one of the corners of the room, after checking over her fellow officers, " All due to head injuries from falling rubble, I think. We need a medical kit in here fast, or we are going to lose them."

_Oh… snap._ Sally thought, _What happened to everyone else?_

"Acknowledged lieutenant. Stay where you are, and keep caring for your injured. I will come to you."

Sally started to move around the room, slowly picking her way through the debris toward the black and white bat while searching the floor and rubble for any injured or dead. All she found were bodies.

She bit her lip to keep from crying. There was just so many dead. Her friends, her family… all of them… were dead.

There was a crumbling sound,and for a moment her hopes rose.

"Knuckles? Anyone?" She called out, "Are you alive? Can you hear me?"

There was another crumbling sound, and she spun around to see a huge pile of rubble get shoved aside by Knuckles. She almost cried out with joy, that at least one other officer besides her and Rouge had survived the earthquake.

"Before you ask again, I am okay,"Knuckles thundered nonchalantly, shoving aside the remaining rubble that had covering him, "Just a few bruises and scrapes, is all I bloody-well have."

"Are there any more officers under that rubble?"

"Yes," He grumbled, "But hell, I think they are dead."

"We need to make sure." Sally replied, trying to keep her voice calm.

Knuckles shifted some of the concrete, bent over and checked the vitals of the few officers he found in the rubble. After a minute or so, he turned to Sally, and drew her aside.

"Four dead," He muttered bluntly to Sally, "One unconscious with two injuries: A blow to the head and a crushed hand. If he survives, he will need an amputation, considering how we do not have reliable transport to a hospital."

"Thats a relief," Sally muttered almost sarcastically, " One more survivor, and _only_ four more dead."

"That bad, huh? I bet your over exaggerating."

"Trust me, I'm not." Sally replied. "Everyone else I have found is dead, except for Rouge and two others on the other side of the room, and I have to say that I doubt that there are any additional survivors."

"Perhaps your suspicions will prove to be wrong."

"I hope that you're right, Knuckles. Care for the one with the crushed wrist."

"He will be fine for a few more minutes. Mobians are tougher than humans in a lot of ways, and from what I can tell, he is stable, which means that as long as we check on him regularly and don't move him, he should be fine. Since I haven't had any real medical training, so I bloody-well can't do anything for him. Although Rouge specializes in espionage, she is the only surviving officer here with decent medical training. I think we should continue to search the room for more survivors, we can have Rouge take a look at him in a minute or so."

There was no point arguing with Knuckles; he was right, and was the senior officer to boot. They were better off trying to find additional survivors than trying to help this officer. She feared that there wasn't any other survivors, but she could still hope.

Her fears proved to be true. Sally and Knuckles roamed the room for the next couple of minutes, moving rubble and tallying up the bodies. By the time they reached Rouge, they had reached the conclusion that there were a total of six survivors in the bunker. But only 19 officers had been accounted for; and Sonic was not among them.

_Oh God! _Sally thought. _six… out of nineteen… officers… alive. One unaccounted for._ _Only six of us survived, and Sonic is missing. _

"Lieutenant Jeffry didn't make it," Rouge said as they approached, "If I had a medical kit, I probably could've stabilized him, but…"

She cut off when she saw Sally's face.

"How many?" Rouge asked.

"One other survived." Knuckles said flatly.

"Oh my…" Rouge said, covering her mouth with blood stained hands.

"I think he is stable, but his arm was crushed by a huge piece of rubble, and it looks bad."

"Do we have any medical supplies?" The bat asked, following Sally over to the red fox with the crushed arm.

"I haven't seen any. There might be a med-kit buried in the rubble, but I doubt that I could find it in time to save him."

"I doubt this is the only room in this bunker, Sally," Knuckles pointed out. "It is entirely possible that there could be a medical facility built into it where we can find supplies."

"If there is, the earthquake probably damaged the equipment," Sally replied, her face tightening. The situation had put a dampening on her usual positive attitude.

"Well," Rouge said, "The chance of finding a medical kit and surgical supplies is better than the certainty of having nothing by staying here. You two get going, but hurry back. I will stay here and care for the wounded as best as I can."

As much as Sally hated to admit it right now, Rouge was right. They needed supplies, and fast. So she and Knuckles began a long and tedious search of the the other rooms in the Bunker. The poked their heads into crevices and doorways, shifting rubble when necessary, but the only thing they found out that was of any use was the fact that the Power Room was completely intact and contained an old model Chaos Reactor. They continued their work, their hopes falling every minute.

"Sally, I think I found the Storage Room!" Knuckles thundered after what seemed like ages of searching.

He was standing in front of a hatch in the ground set in the middle of one of the hallways

"Why would this be the storage room?" Sally asked perplexed.

"Lets just say that I have a gut feeling," the Echidna replied, twisting the hatch and revealing a ladder leading down into the basement.

"HAH… HA… HAHAHA!" Knuckles thundered, clapping Sally on the shoulder and almost knocking her down into the basement. " A basement! I bet we hit the bloody Jackpot!"

"Watch it, you overgrown porcupine!" Sally muttered irritably. "Don't you know your own strength?"

"Sorry," He replied sheepishly.

They climbed down the ladder to find that Knuckles' gut was spot on. It was a fairly large room, but it wasn't empty; Dust covered crates of all sizes were stacked orderly upon cobwebbed shelves or against the wall. It was obvious that this room hadn't been disturbed in a while, even by the Earthquake. As she and the Echidna searched the room, they found that there were rations, weaponry, and other equipment, each labeled and put away in their own respective section.

_Okay, I've seen crates labeled "Weapons", "Rations, and "Ammunition", but where are those damned medical supplies? …And now that I think about it, what are the chances that we are warped to a bunker fully stocked with everything needed for survival, _She thought._ Of all the places we could be, why here? …How the hell did Sonic know about this place?_

At that precise moment, Sally was broken out of her thoughts by Knuckles.

"Over Here!" Knuckles thundered, "I think I found the Medical Supplies!"

_Oh, naturally._ She thought, walking over to him.

What she saw was a pile of huge crates. The group label had been cleared of the dust so that they could read it clearly: "Advanced Medical Kits."

"Well then," Sally sighed with relief, "At least now we have a chance of fixing up any injuries we come across."

"There's more, besides this one," Knuckles said,

With Knuckles' help, she pulled down one of the crates and pried it open to reveal four or so huge bags, each almost the size of her.

_You've got to be kidding me. _She thought, staring at them dumbfounded.

With an audible grunt, she pulled out one of the bags, and lugged it over to the ladder. She stopped, and stood staring at the entrance, then looked down at the bag in discust.

_Dammit, _She thought, _This isn't going to be fun; that figures._

"Is there a problem?" Knuckles asked.

"Yes." She replied. "How the heck are we going to get a bag as big as myself up that damn ladder?"


	14. Chapter 12: Return

**Chapter 12: Return**

It took Sally and Knuckles another 10 minutes to haul an _enormous _medical kit up the ladder, and drag it through through the rubble and back to where Rouge was tending to the injured fox.

…_Of all the stupid places for a medical kit to be… why the HELL did it have to be located in the basement with no way in or out other than a narrow ladder?_

"I see you found the medical supplies." Rouge replied nonchalantly, eying the bag.

"Oh, shut up Rouge." Sally retorted, dumping the bag in the clearest spot near the bat.

"Where was it?"

"Well—,"Sally was about to respond, but Knuckles smoothly interrupted.

"We found a basement in the hallway outside…" He said cooly.

"Well, it doesn't really matter," Rouge replied, as she checked the unconscious officer's vitals. She would have to move fast with the procedure, otherwise the pain or the loss of blood would kill him.

"Knuckles, get me the surgeons kit… You are going to help me."

"What?"

"I don't think Sally should be the one to help me, so that leaves you."

"Why?"

"Her mind isn't the clearest right now. Look at her… you can tell that she can barely keep her composure."

"I am having a hard time right now as well." Kuckles protested.

"But, as far as I can tell, you are taking it better than her. Your judgement right now is much clearer, I presume."

"Well… _shit!" _Knuckles swore,"I don't know the first bloody thing about first aid, much less surgery."

"When you get right down to it… neither do I." Rouge responded cooly, "After basic training, I chose to specialize in spying and sabotage. Luckily, a basic medical and surgery course was part of the curriculum at Facility Epsilon; it was reasoned that spies need to have medical training in case they were operating behind enemy lines without any available aid. You may be in charge right now due to seniority, but I am the one with the most medical experience here, so that puts me as the Chief Medical Officer. "

"Damn."

"Damn is right Knuckles," Rouge confirmed in a tone of iron, "Since this is a medical issue and I have no one else around who is clear minded enough to help my, I order you to help me. We have to work fast, otherwise we will loose another Officer."

Knuckles knew she was right. He muttered a few swear words under his breath, but nevertheless opened the bag, and rummaged around until he found was was needed: a Surgeon's Field Kit and two surgeon.

Meanwhile, Sally wandered off and found a place to sit down, trying not to weep.

"CHAOS... SHIELD!" Sonic thundered, as he projected the chaotic energy into the form of a protective barrier.

With a concussive shockwave, the beam of green light hit the shield with explosive force. For a few glorious moments, Sonic stood toe to toe against a force of pure unadulterated beam of raw energy, resisting the wave of death with _an equal and opposite force_. But although he was able to fight the Beam of Energy head-on, he could not keep it up. Already he could feel his mind and muscles weakening under the intense pressure and strain, and exhaustion and weariness were starting to sink their teeth into him. He was weakening, while the beam of energy was still strong and constant. If he didn't try something else, they would all perish here in that beam of green light.

_I... Just...Cannot let them all die_, Sonic thought, gritting his teeth as the additional strain on his body struggled to tear him body apart. If the Shield couldn't hold out against the wave of destruction, then the only way to survive was to escape…

He drew in even more energy… the surge flooding his body and pushing his very blood cells to the limit! He couldn't…keep it up…

With an ounce of extra effort, he called upon the one ability that had not failed yet…

"CHAOS CONTROL!" He shouted, using the extra energy to divert the Shield into a bubble of space time the exact same size as the shield he projected. For a moment, the Shield of Chaotic Energy flashed with the light of a thousand suns, and then everyone within it vanished into the swirling colors of limbo.

Exhausted, but free of the enormous strain put upon his body, Sonic wove himself into his own separate bubble from the rest of the group and propelled himself towards the bunker. Compared to what he had just tried, this was a step in the park. He knew that the other officers would be wondering where he had been, and he needed to tell them what had just transpired. He would arrive before the recruits to make arrangements for the mobians he had managed to rescue.

After what seemed like an eternity, there was a flash of light and Sonic found himself standing in a room that was worse off than when he had left. Rubble was everywhere, and he could see the bodies of Mobian Officers lying everywhere. Dumbfounded, he stared at the room, his eyes wide with horror.

_What the heck happened here? _He thought, _I thought the other officers would be safe here, dammit!_

"Hello?" He said, pushing through some of the rubble.

Sally's ears perked up in response to a voice that she recognized.

"Sonic?" She called out, while straightening her rumpled uniform.

"Sally? Is that you?" He replied. "What happened here?"

"Not sure. There was a surge of brilliant green light, and the earth shook. Parts of the ceiling collapsed."

"How many officers are still alive?"

"Five." Sally replied, "You, me, Knuckles, Rouge, and one other who is barely hanging on."

"Damn…" Sonic said, as he walked into view.

Sally gasped. The blue hedgehog was a mess: He was covered with dirt and grime and his uniform was tattered, torn, and stained with blood, But his emerald eyes shone with light. He was still the same as what she remembered from her childhood.

"What happened Sonic?" She asked almost hurtfully, "One minute you were with us, and the next you were gone. Why did you leave us? Why did you abandon your fellow officers?"

Sonic glanced around the bunker hesitantly, taking in the carnage. The shock finally hit him, and his fist tightened on the Chaos Emerald, as the fact that he and four others were the only Officers still alive. His friends and colleagues were dead, and that thought struck him to the core.

_So… so many dead… Friends… and Colleagues. Damn you Fidel!_ Sonic thought, as he silently mourned. _Damn you for killing and torturing so many of my people!_

Sally saw him break eye contact, and gaze around the room. She watched his face as guilt and hurt slowly flickered across her old friend's face. His body trembled, and his hand tightened around the glowing Jewel in his right hand.

The moments ticked by, with no response.

_I cannot believe this,_ She thought, _He did abandon us!_

The silence was what brought Sonic back to reality. He glanced at Sally, and noted the look of hurt and disgust on her face.

"Sally…"

_Oh no,_ She thought.

"I… didn't abandon you," he said, "I left you and the others here, because… I thought… that everyone here would be safe."

"Then why did you leave us?" She asked skeptically.

"The recruits… I couldn't just leave them."

Sally's eyes widened in surprise.

"You went back for them."

"Yes."

"How many did you save?"

"I am not sure how many…"

"Where are they?" Sally asked.

"They are on their way here. Not sure when they will arrive…"

Sally's mind rejoiced. There were others! They were not the last ones! But… then a dreadful thought occurred to her.

"Sonic… what happened to the ones that you failed to rescue?"

Sonic's head dropped in shame.

" ….some were killed by that green light… but most of them were captured…"

"Then… that means…" Sally whispered, as the full realization of that statement hit home.

"Yes. Everyone that will be in this bunker… are the only ones left."


End file.
